Cherry Weasel
by verabeachylucia
Summary: Since the dawn of time the Uchiha have put friends and enemies alike under a spell with their Sharingan. But what happens when a certain medic unknowingly puts the Uchiha prodigy under a spell with her own mesmerizing eyes? "I will have her."
1. Taken

**Since the dawn of time the Uchiha have put friends and enemies alike under a spell with their Sharingan. But what happens when a certain medic unknowingly puts the Uchiha prodigy under a spell with her own mesmerizing eyes? "I will have her," he said possessively, "She's mine."**

**ItachixSakura**

**Rated M**

**A/N: Hello all! Vera Lucia here, with my very first fanfic! Haven't written one before, so I'd love if you'd R&R, the more people that do the faster I'll update!**

**Cherry Weasel**

**Taken**

Itachi knew he was in trouble the very second that she opened her arresting green eyes. Innocently wide, taking in everything around her, and yet hard from years of her lifestyle, calculating. He stilled even more, if possible, becoming one with the tree branch that he had been perching on for the past few hours. Peering through the green leaves with his Sharingan, Itachi looked once again at the pink haired kunoichi, scoffing at her position on the ground a couple hundred yards away.

He had been watching her train from a distance since the crack of dawn, profiling her, taking note of her weaknesses and strengths. Kisame had long since grown bored and left, claiming he needed to scout out the area ahead. She was much too far away to make out any defining details, save for her waist length petal coloured hair, pulled into a long french braid. So Itachi had pulled out the scope from his pocket, held it up to his left eye and activated it. The device was modeled after Deidara's own scope, but he hadn't told the arsonist that he had taken his design, the moron didn't deserve Itachi's acknowledgment. As stupid as Deidara was, the scope he wore was quite useful for getting those easy to miss details when staking out a target, since the Sharingan couldn't magnify as close as this device could.

However, as soon as he put it on and looked back at the girl, she had opened her perviously closed eyes and looked directly back at him, narrowing her green orbs suspiciously. For a second, Itachi was floored, had he given his position away? His chakra was completely masked, there was no way she could sense him, especially at this distance. And yet, as she stood up from laying down on the ground, her eyes never left the branch he was sitting on. Then Itachi felt it too, the enormous chakra that was coming barreling from behind him, heading right towards the woman. The owner of said chakra was still quite a distance away, only an inkling of the powerful chakra could be sensed, but both of the ninja could tell who it was.

Though he would never admit it, Itachi let out a little puff of breath he had been holding in anticipation. Running would have been easy, had his position been compromised, no one came close to matching his speed, not even Pein; fighting the woman would prove interesting, but it was not time for such actions yet. His mission as of right now was to gather information on the target and to not get caught, equivalent to a D-rank mission for this missing nin.

The woman in front of him let her guarded expression drop as realization crossed her exotic features. The massive chakra, so potent it was almost visible to the naked eye, blasted its way through the forrest and into the training clearing. An orange and yellow blur sped its way up to the woman, tackling her in a voracious hug.

"Sakura-chan!" The voice called out in exuberance, much deeper than Itachi remembered it being since the last time he saw the boy, Naruto.

"Naruto!" She cried out, laughing freely. The boy had her in a bear hug, twirling her around as if she weighed no more than a small child, which in comparison to him, she might as well have been.

Itachi deactivated and removed his scope, gathering enough information for one day. He didn't want to stick around in the same place for too long, especially with the demon-fox in the same vicinity. He may be powerful, perhaps the most powerful ninja in the world even, but he knew when not to engage, for along his immense power, Itachi also possessed the intellect of a genius. He would follow the carefully laid plans, and when it was time, he would strike. It was only a matter of hours, before he and Kisame would grab the Slug Princess' apprentice.

* * *

><p>"Sakura-chan, I'm back!" Naruto screamed into the ear of the girl in his arms. He spun her around in circles enthusiastically, happy to hear the delighted laughing that passed through her pink lips.<p>

"I can see that Naruto!" She finally said as he placed her back on the ground. Sakura Haruno gazed up at her cerulean eyed best friend, looking all the way up his six-foot two frame from his feet, to his muscular torso and finally to his handsome face. She smiled warmly at him, cheerful that there didn't seem to be any major injuries from his month long mission, "I missed you." She proclaimed easily.

"I missed you too Sakura-chan. The mission was soooo boring without you! Kaka-sensei wouldn't stop trying to teach me about papers and laws and 'the proper way to greet people' it was awful, who needs to know that useless stuff?" Naruto complained, drooping over as if the weight of the world had just landed on his square shoulders, and maybe it had.

"Baka!" Sakura said, hitting him over the head, "That stuffs not useless! You're twenty and the day you turn twenty-one you're going to be made into the youngest Hokage in the history of Konoha! You need to know this stuff, you can't become a second Tsunade-sama and rely on people like me and Shizune," Sakura scowled at him.

Naruto looked down at his best friend, his Sakura-chan. She was glaring up at him, scolding him for his lack of interest in the political aspect of becoming Hokage. As usual he tuned her out but kept a semi-serious look on his face, least she realize it was going in one ear and out the other, and decide to hit him again. How funny, that the future Hokage still feared the fists of his little teammate. She was tiny for her age and profession, at twenty as well, Sakura was barley five-three and probably wasn't a hundred and twenty pounds soaking wet. However, every pound on her was muscle, her looks as deceptive as could be, which is what made her such a good kunoichi.

Anyone who didn't know her or her name, which over the years had become almost as well known as Tsunade's had, could only see her physical attributes. Anyone not trained as a ninja, or a ninja that just wasn't very observant, saw a small, exotic looking woman with a tight ass and perfectly shaped breasts. They saw her long pink hair cascading down her back to her waist, her jade-green eyes and her luscious pink lips. What they didn't see was the subtle but strong muscles on her arms, legs or toned stomach, they didn't see the small scars decorating her elegant hands from years of kunai practice. They didn't see the scrolls containing hundreds of weapons and medical implements on her belt, or the way her outfit was perfect for moving around in, for fighting in. And finally, these people just didn't see the look in her eyes, the determination, the strength in her set jaw, the raw power.

"I know you're not paying any attention," Sakura's voice interrupted his thoughts, Naruto raised one hand and put it behind his head, giving a nervous half-laugh.

"O-Of course I am Sakura-chan!" But she just rolled her eyes, giving up. Nothing got past her, she wasn't the Hokage's apprentice and the head of the hospital for nothing, yet she knew after almost a decade of friendship, that Naruto just wasn't going to listen.

"Whatever Naru-chan," She said, sticking her little tongue out at him before turning around and walking in the direction of the village, "you coming?" He jogged up to her, glad she would be accompanying him to the tower to report how the mission went.

"Naruto," the big-breasted Hokage sighed, "the whole point of this damn mission was to put you in the middle of nowhere with Kakashi, so the only thing you could possibly do is listen to him, so you could LEARN something about becoming Hokage! And yet the second he reports back to me, I learn that you spent the whole time looking for a damn ramen shop!" Tsunade stood up from her chair and slammed her hands on her desk, cracking the wood.

"Eh, Tsunade-sama..." Shizune spoke up from the back of the room at the same time, "...that's the third desk this week," Sakura finished for her, both of them sweat-dropping. But both of them were silenced with a single glare from their master, not wanting to get the brute of her anger.

"But Baa-chan!" Naruto whined, "I'm the strongest ninja in the village and I'll do all I can to protect everyone here, that's all that matters right?" He gave the good-guy pose, and was promptly hit was a book, thrown by a fuming Sakura.

"Baka!" She stage-whispered.

"No Naruto, that's not all that matters! What are you going to do if you and one of the other Kage's have a meeting that will determine whether or not there will be a war, how will you greet him or her without insulting them? How will you make sure that you reach an agreement without losing any ground? What will you say to make sure they know you're willing to do whatever it takes to win, without saying it outright?"

With each question Tsunade asked, Naruto seemed to melt more and more into the ground, unable to answer her. Sakura sighed, rubbing her throbbing head with chakra laced fingers. Why had she come with him again? She should have known it would end up this way, and now she was stuck listening to it. Shizune gave her a little wave and quietly snuck out the door while Tsunade was shouting, seeing her chance at escape. Kakashi was on her left, effectively ignoring the Slug Princess by burrowing his nose in his little orange book, having already been chewed out for not being able to control his ADHD inclined student.

Sakura didn't really listen to the rest of Tsunade's speech, having heard her give it to him a million times before. It seemed the stress level was getting higher and higher as the time for Naruto to take over her spot grew. She knew her master was very happy for him, but didn't really know how to show it aside from pushing him.

Moving slowly to the window, as to not attract the attention of the two people in a shouting match, Sakura stuck her head out the open window, resting her head on her hands, elbows on the windowsill. Something in the air didn't smell right, she had smelled it earlier in the training ground but attributed it to Naruto's disturbance, coming home from a mission. But now she was smelling it again, it smelled how it felt, ominous. Something was going to happen, and it caused the hairs on her arms to stand up.

Over the years Sakura and Kiba had grown really close, being the head of the hospital, and therefor the personal doctor on call for every Konoha clan, had brought her close to many of the future clan leaders. The Inuzuka were the last to put their trust in her, coming just shortly after the naturally untrusting Hyuga. The only reason it took them so long was because of the nin-dogs, which had to really get to know a person before making a decision, but once they did their loyalty was unwavering.

During their time together, as Sakura worked to win the clan over, Kiba taught her some of their D-rank abilities, one of them being the ability to sense feelings by smell. Since she had, obviously, not been born into the clan, Sakura was missing some very key mutations in her DNA and wasn't able to utilize the ability like Kiba and the others could, but she could still do more than anyone outside the clan ever could before her. The feelings had to be powerful and potent, in order for her to be able to sense them, and even then she had to concentrate hard, as she was now and had been in the training field.

Something, someone, in Konoha was feeling extra malicious today. Since it obviously wasn't someone near her, in the Hokage Tower, the owner of the feelings had to also be the owner of a very expansive chakra, almost like a tailed beast contained, for the smell to be spread across the village like this. I need to see Kiba, they'll be able to tell me who and where it's coming from, she thought to herself.

The nature outside even seemed extra restless today, leaves swirled around in front of her, the wind picking up and dying down spastically. There were no birds chirping, and everyone seemed to be inside, instead of milling around the market, as per a usual Saturday afternoon. Sakura turned around and looked at Kakashi, who was already staring back at her. She gave him a meaningful look and his response, a slight nod, was all she needed. Kakashi, owner of many nin-dogs, had the same ability as her, though for some reason it wasn't as pronounced as hers. That one look he gave her confirmed her feelings of suspicion, he felt it too.

"Tsunade-sama," sensei and student said at the same time, stopping the argument still going on between the Hokage and her future successor. Their combined efforts got her attention and she quirked her earth the left, trying to sense what they did. Suddenly, her amber eyes widened and she snapped her fingers, three ANBU appeared before her instantaneously, on bended knee with their heads bowed in respect.

"Hokage-sama," The three said simultaneously, awaiting her orders. Naruto looked confused but serious, Kakashi had put his book away, preparing for a fight, and Sakura turned back out the window, listening to what was going on in the room while watching the outside world.

Then, suddenly, before Tsunade could say anything else, the world village exploded into motion. The sound of hundreds of dogs barking came from the Inuzuka clan's property, birds chirped and flew around in a frenzy, villagers ran from store to store, as if a normal day had begun again but fast-forwarded, and Ton-Ton, who had previously been sleeping in a bed near Tsunade's desk, jumped up and started squealing like no tomorrow.

"What's going on?" Naruto yelled, running up to the window next to Sakura and looking out at the village, his arm subconsciously moved in front of Sakura's own in a protective stance.

There was no time to explain what happened, as if anyone knew in the first place, "ANBU, to the borders! Alert every station that we may have an intruder, very powerful, possible Akatsuki," Tsunade yelled and they darted off out of different windows. Shizune burst into the room, slamming the door against the wall. She looked like she was going to say something, but when she saw they already knew, stopped.

"The animals can all sense it," Kakashi spoke, "but the villagers have no idea..." They were acting weird, as if in fast-forward, but nothing else seemed amiss, they went about their business as usual.

"They're under a mass genjutsu," Sakura spoke, her voice even and strong, but her eyes crinkled with worry. "I can see it surrounding each and every one of them, even the children, Uchiha-san is here," It was a bold statement, and the other four pairs of eyes looked shocked at her statement, but a look of resolution settled upon the Copy-Nin's face.

"She's right." The other three in the room still looked unsure, but he continued, "Who else would be able to cast such a massive genjutsu? I cannot do so, with one imperfect Sharingan, but with two perfected eyes? The best the world has seen since Madara's? It would be no problem, child's play even. As for the massive chakra I felt," He gave a look to Sakura, who nodded in understanding, having already figured this part out as well, "It must be Kisame-san, his partner."

The Hokage sucked in a sharp breath, not wanting to believe it, but having to based on the indisputable evidence Sakura and her and ex-ANBU teacher provided her with.

"Kakashi, alert the clan heads that we may have an infiltration, make sure they're aware of who we're up against so they can take proper precautions with their families and ninja. Shizune, get the civilians and academy students into the Hokage monument to keep them safe. Naruto, you and Sakura go to the front gate, make sure its closer and then seal it from the outside, if they're outside, it will keep them outside, and if they're inside, they'll have no place to run. Move out!"

The ninja all sped off in blurs as soon as their instructions were given, Naruto and Sakura were the last to leave. They both received a look from Tsunade, telling them to be careful, be safe. If Itachi and Kisame were trapped outside with them, there wouldn't be as much backup as they would ideally have, they had gotten the most dangerous assignment out of the ones given. If they went out and were trapped with the two Akatsuki members, they would have some ANBU, but not as many as usual, as many were inside securing the village. The Akatsuki would basically have them alone, which, unbeknownst to Naruto and Sakura, was exactly what they wanted.

* * *

><p>Itachi glared at his teammate, a certain shark-nin, and tossed his straw hat to the side, its bells jingling in the wind before it hit the ground.<p>

"What? I didn't do anything!" The shark man proclaimed for at least the fourth time, hands up as if to prove his innocence, but Itachi wasn't having it.

"Between the two of us, who do you think gave our position away?" Itachi's cool voice responded, "Maybe next time you'll mask your chakra better."

"It was perfectly masked, who shoved a pole up your ass today? Or every day for that matter?" Kisame grumbled, unhappy at being chastised by his much shorter, but more powerful, partner. It was embarrassing to have to listen to a man he had a foot and a half on, and probably a hundred pounds of muscle, but the first time Kisame had challenged his authority had also been the last. He may not be the smartest of the Akatsuki, but he was far from the dumbest, and he learned fast.

Itachi chose not to grace him with a retort, and instead moved forward, toward the Konoha gates.

* * *

><p>"You ready Naruto?" Sakura called to her left, where Naruto was stationed by the seal on the other side of the gate. She revived an affirmative nod.<p>

"Ready Sakura-chan!" The two of them began the seals the Hokage had taught them years ago with blinding speed. Their backs to the world outside of the gate, so as to protect the seals from the prying eyes of the enemy that was sure to be closing in.

"Seal! Konoha no Jutsu!" The remaining members of team seven yelled at the same time, slamming both of their hands into the spots on either side of the ginormous gates, sealing the doors and creating a barrier around the village as well.

The entire process took maybe ten minutes, but more chakra than they wanted was used on the short process, especially if they were to face two notorious S-rank missing-nin.

"You alright, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, his boundless energy rolling off of him in waves. He could seal the Konoha gates a thousand times over without breaking a sweat, thanks to the newly formed bone between him and Kurama, the Kyuubi inside of him.

"Fine," was her one worded response, pulling on her fingerless fighting gloves and turning around to face who was approaching them at a leisurely pace.

The apprentices of two of the legendary Sannin walked into the woods outside of the Konoha gates, ready to meet the Akatsuki in a battle they wouldn't soon forget.

* * *

><p>Itachi stopped, halting Kisame as well, in the clearing a mile outside of the village at one of the many training grounds in the woods surrounding Konoha. He could feel two chakras approaching, meeting them to defend their village. A strong pulsating chakra, swirling around in preparation for battle was unmistakably Naruto's, and the second, calmer and much smaller chakra was sure to be his teammate, their target, the medic called Sakura Haruno.<p>

Sure enough the two of them appeared out of the woods on the other side of the training ground, assessing the Akatsuki in front of them. Itachi watched the two of them, seemingly bored, while Kisame stood next to him cracking his fingers and grinning the smile of a mad-man. Naruto was fidgety, as usual, hopping from one foot to the other, his face caught between a grin at the thought of a fight, and a grimace at the thought that the men before him were here to, somehow, hurt his village.

Beside him, a woman of twenty stood, stoically looking before her. Her hair was still in the long french braid that Itachi had spied her in while watching her train earlier, and her fighting glowed were already on. He could detect no emotion on her face, save for the every so slight furrowing of her brow, anger.

Itachi broke the silence, "Naruto-kun, you've grown."

"What are you doing here Itachi?" Naruto ignored his greeting, "Shouldn't you be off tormenting the teme somewhere? Maybe murdering another clan of helpless children?" He saw Sakura's eyes narrow slightly and look at Naruto, trying to get him to shut up. Then those mesmerizing green eyes flickered to him, teeming with an emotion he couldn't quite place, one that had never been directed at him before.

"Mah, mah Naruto, why the hostility?" Kisame butted in, "still upset that Itachi here forced your friend away? You're not still trying to get him back, are you?" He teased, expecting the usual violent response that Naruto delivered whenever someone mentioned Sasuke.

"Hah!" He scoffed, crossing his arms over his broad chest and giving a laugh, "So does that mean you guys haven't heard?" Sakura actually shushed him this time, trying to get the boy to shut up. His comment received a look of blatant confusion from Kisame, and a quirked eyebrow from Itachi.

"Whats that suppose to mean?" Kisame questioned, but before Naruto could open his mouth again to explain, Sakura had elbowed him in the gut and gave a signal. The two of them nodded at each other and took off, blurring together as they ran at the Akatsuki team, criss crossing in front of each other so as to confuse the other pair, not giving away who would be going after who.

Suddenly, they split apart, one body flying upward blocking the sun, and the other punching a hole in the ground with monstrous strength. Itachi's eyes, already melted into the blood red of his Sharingan, followed the movements of the Leaf team. Though he could see who was doing what, their movements were rehearsed in a way where he wasn't completely sure what they were going to do next.

"Hn." He moved back at the same time as Kisame moved forward, neither one of them knowing what the other planned to do. If the Leaf had anything over them, it was that they trained to work with one another, where the Akatsuki teams just worked off of their own skills.

It was obvious what the members of team seven had done. They took Naruto's unpredictable moves, and put them together using Sakura's planning and logic in a way that made it easy to both work together as well as keep the enemy confused. Itachi spared a glance at Kisame and narrowed his eyes at his partner; it was obviously working.

Naruto was in the air still, falling toward where Sakura was pulling her fist up from the deep crater she had punched into the earth. As Kisame moved forward, Naruto created two shadow clones, which started spinning air and chakra together to make the rasengan. Twisting together the three Narutos became a drill, colliding into the ground and continuing the hole that Sakura had made with her fists.

As he fell into the hole, Sakura jumped up, taking his place in the sky and launched herself at Kisame, sending a kick to his face. The shark nin used Samehade to block the kick and wrap her ankle with it's bindings, so to drain the kunochi's chakra. Then his face twisted up in further confusion as she started to twist forward. Sakura had purposely gotten her foot caught so that the sword couldn't be used to block her real attack, a swift but strong punch to the face with a chakra laced fist. The feisty woman had used her caught foot, which Itachi noticed hadn't been laced with chakra, to offset her balance and push the top half of her body forward to deliver a harsh blow.

Watching from the side, Itachi didn't interfere as Kisame was sent sailing back. His partner didn't get involved in his fights, and he didn't get involved with Kisame's. Unless it looked like his counterpart was going to sustain a mortal injury, and would therefor become a burden to himself, Itachi kept to himself. Kisame just regained his balance by using Samehade as a third leg when the ground behind him broke apart, revealing Naruto and his rasengan.

Sakura had punched a hole in the ground, starting a tunnel for her partner, who then dove to finish the tunnel. She distracted the shark-nin by getting herself caught and then punching him directly into where Naruto would come up with his rasengan. With a shout he pushed the ball of wind chakra into the massive blue man's back, pushing him forward again to the petal-haired kunoichi.

"The fuck?" Kisame's raspy voice sounded above the noises of battle, while Itachi still stayed where he was. Their well executed attack had taken place in under thirty seconds.

"Okay, no more playing around, Leaf brats!" Kisame brought his hands together, having already learned a lesson about taking it easy with these two. "_Katon! Waterfall no Jutsu_!" Out of nowhere, a giant tsunami-like wave appeared behind the nine foot tall missing-nin.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, and she nodded at him, it was time for each of them to engage their respective members. Naruto ran directly to the wave, a headstrong attack as usual, while Sakura turned and ran toward her stoic enemy.

* * *

><p>"Uchiha-san," she acknowledged, standing a mere ten years from the Uchiha prodigy. He looked away from the ongoing battle between the nine-tailed container and the man known as the tailless beast, and turned her way. A very slight nod of his head was directed at her and she took a defensive fighting stance.<p>

_If all I can do is hold him off until more ANBU come for backup, that'll be good enough_, she thought to herself, but Kami would I like to wipe the floor with his face.

Sakura's hands glowed green, her chakra tangible in its dense form. Itachi stood, having barely moved since the start of the fight. He assessed the woman in front of him, who was undoubtedly doing the same. Her green eyes were narrowed in preparation for a fight, but her eyes held no malice, as if the fight was impersonal, just an assignment. Her and her partner, Naruto, was vastly different in that respect. Every fight was personal for him, he was ruled by his emotions. If he thought back, Itachi could remember Sakura as a twelve year old Genin, hanging back, crying, and having to be protected all the time. She had grown up well, matured into a real kunoichi.

"Haruno-san," He formally greeted her back, finally, and tried to catch her eyes, he could see the orbs, but they weren't focused on his own red ones, rather she was looking directly at his mouth, listening to his words but not looking into his eyes.

_Smart_. Even Itachi's own thoughts lacked much substance.

Without further ado from either side, the ninja became black blurs, both of them jumping into the air and clashing in a sea of sparks, metal kunai on metal kunai.

"Naruto! I had heard you grew, after defeating Pein! It seems like I heard wrong!" Kisame taunted the younger male, who launched at him in blind fury.

"Oh yeah? At least I'm not some ugly fuck-face!" He yelled back, "You look like a fish!" And as common as the insult was, it still got Kisame's blood broiling and he sent more of his water sharks after the Kyuubi container. After he had sent that wave at the two Leaf, he summoned his nin-sharks to launch attacks at them. However when he looked back there was only one, the woman, their target, had left to fight his partner.

Kisame grinned, displaying row after row of shark-like teeth. They were playing directly into the plan, he hated to admit it, but Itachi always did think things completely through. It was only natural that the two would come face to face with the legendary students of the Sannin Tsunade and Jiraiya, and Itachi had come up with the plan from there. There was no way Sakura could face Kisame, his monstrous amount of chakra could suffocate people alone, Naruto would be the only one of the two that could match him for stamina. And though it was unlikely she could even land a hit, Itachi had assumed, she would have a greater chance matching his wit and genius with her own, where at Naruto wouldn't know genius if it bit him in the ass. The plan from here on out, was for them to separate the two and for Itachi to kidnap the medic-nin, and Kisame would meet up with him afterwards.

"So what were you saying about Sasuke-chan, eh Naruto?" Kisame started off for him, knowing that without Sakura by his side, the boy would have much looser lips, "Could it be that he has finally come home? And if so, why isn't he here with you two, defending his village?" Naruto looked like he wanted to respond, but knew that he shouldn't. He had control over himself, that is, until Kisame delivered the final verbal blow, "Could it be that he still just doesn't care about you, even after all this time?"

Naruto saw red as the demon fox's chakra began to bleed out of him, soaking his body in it. Kisame gave a feral grin, one full of malicious promise, and looked at the man in front of him completely unabashed.

"You better fucking take that back."

* * *

><p>A loud roar broke the sounds of fighting between Itachi and Sakura. Unlike their partners, neither one of them found reason to taunt the other, as this wasn't personal, not yet anyway. Kunai clanged against one another and shurikan littered the forrest floor and trees around the ninja. Sakura paused for a split second, if it weren't for the Sharingan, Itachi wouldn't have seen it, but he did. He knew the two were close friends, and hearing him release the demon that was housed inside his body probably made her nervous for his fight, but after that instantaneous moment of weakness, she continued. The two had exhausted many jutsus, neither one of them being able to catch the other in a genjutsu, and both using long range ninjutsu when they weren't going after each other in hand to hand combat.<p>

Neither one of them looked too bad, but Sakura was obviously worse for the wear. Training all morning and afternoon had sucked a lot of her chakra, and combined with sealing the village, she started off at much lower than half her usual reserve. _Maybe I should have told Tsunade-sama about the early training session..._But the kunoichi shook off the thought, _I'm no longer weak, a little training won't stop me from being able to go all out!_ Reinforcing the strong belief the woman held in herself, she launched herself for another round of lightning-fast attacks.

In truth, Itachi was surprised by how fast the woman in front of him was. Of course, he was faster, but she could definitely hold her own against him in that category. He had been unable to hit her with any of his shurikan, or thrown kunai, and though she hadn't been able to hit him with her own that way, he was still spotting some scratches on his arms from the hand to hand combat they had been doing with the sharpened ninja knives, which was a feat for anyone. He couldn't remember the last time an enemy had been able to land an attack on him at all, let alone multiple ones, but this woman before him had. He could see the scratches on his arms and feel the dried blood on his face, his torso was sure to be bruising as well, after taking some of her kicks.

Sakura paused after her fast and calculated strikes, both of them panting from their activities, though his breaths were much less labored than hers were. Itachi looked at the target before him. He wasn't going all out on her, there was no need, but it was still impressive that she could come into the fight with less than half of her chakra and still be able to fight, fight well for that matter, against him. He watched her closely with his Sharingan, having not turned on his Mangekyou Sharingan yet, and looked for signs of fatigue. Her posture was impeccable, perfected after years of practice, it was still loose, for speed and movement, but strong in the case of a full out attack. However, the tips of her hands shook a little, and her knees looked slightly wobbly.

Itachi watched the woman in front of him take a deep, calming breath, her full breasts pushing against the fabric of her red shirt. He followed her hand as it reached past her short, airy tan skirt, into the weapons pouch wrapped to her black spandex covered thigh. When he looked up she was staring at her other hand. Quickly, without giving him time to respond, the woman stabbed her left palm with the kunai and slammed in into the ground.

"_Katon! Summoning no Jutsu_!" She cried and in a poof of smoke the Hokage's slug appeared. "Katsuyu!" Sakura called, rushing Itachi.

"Right, Sakura-Hime!" As Sakura ran at the missing-nin, the giant slug burst into a thousand mini-slugs, coating every inch of the area around Itachi. There was no way for him to avoid it, they were everywhere, but that meant that she couldn't either. Her speed slowed as her body was covered with miniature slugs, and he was able to step side her attack with ease. With her back turned to him, Itachi struck with a knock-out blow, aimed at Sakura's head. However, as soon as he made contact, Sakura's body melted into acidic goo, burning his hands.

"Hn?" Was all he could say before he felt a strike eerily similar to his own make contact with his neck. It's only thanks to his speed that he was able to turn around and throw the punch slightly off, and though he still saw stars, Itachi wasn't knocked out.

He narrowed his eyes, deciding that enough was enough, and grabbed the kunochi's wrist, snapping it at the joint and pulling it out of its shoulder socket. He heard a sound of surprise, but none of pain. Looking down at the kunoichi, almost a foot shorter than himself, he saw her stare at his forehead angrily, as if her look alone could melt a hole in his head.

Itachi threw the woman into a tree, breaking the bark and much of the insides with his force. Sakura slumped forward, he could see that she had no chakra left, even if she had not lost her will to fight, she couldn't anymore. That summoning technique, which had poofed away the second she hit the tree, had been her last attempt at gaining the upper hand, and to an extent it had worked. When Katsuyu had turned into many smaller versions of herself, Sakura had used a substitution jutsu with many of them, and when Itachi was burned by their acid, she delivered her final blow. Now that he thought about it, though it was strong, the punch had no chakra in it, seeing as she had none left.

The sight before him would have been pitiful, had he not known what the kunoichi was capable of. His body was riddled with cuts and bruises, the back of his neck and shoulder hurt like hell, he was still a little dizzy, and his hand had been burned pretty badly by the slug's acid. Itachi was panting heavily and his chakra was much lower than its been in a very long time. The woman had put up a very impressive fight, he was interested in seeing her at full chakra capacity.

From her position leaning against the broken tree on the forrest floor, limp arm by her side, Sakura breathed heavy and unevenly. The ever-stoic Uchiha walked up to her and crouched down, just watching her. Then, the woman whispered something he couldn't hear. He grunted, as if to tell her to repeat herself, which she did, just as quietly.

"Speak up, kunoichi." He spoke, annoyed with her weak, timid voice.

Again, Sakura said something so low he couldn't hear her. Itachi grabbed her other arm and broke it as well, so she would be unable to use any juts, weapons or taijutsu. As before, the woman didn't make a sound, although this time he could have swore he saw her wince. Then, he leaned in until her mouth was right by his ear, so as to hear when she was saying.

"I said," the woman spoke with a much stronger voice, "Fuck you, Uchiha," and with that, she reared her head back and head butted him in the side of the head. Anger coursed though the prodigy, the attack had no point but to piss him off, it hurt but it didn't cripple, it seemed like she just wanted to annoy him, and it had worked. The usually emotionless man grabbed her chin and yanked her head up roughly until she was staring directly into his eyes as they bled to the Mangekyou.

"Tsukuyomi."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So, what do you think? Is it worth continuing? R&R please, tell me if I should continue!**

**-Vera**

"I fear being a completely acceptable sheep in society,"

-Marilyn Manson


	2. Organization

**Since the dawn of time the Uchiha have put friends and enemies alike under a spell with their Sharingan. But what happens when a certain medic unknowingly puts the Uchiha prodigy under a spell with her own mesmerizing eyes? "I will have her," he said possessively, "She's mine."**

**ItachixSakura**

**Rated M**

**I don't own Naruto!**

**A/N: I can NOT believe how many of you responded to my first chapter! My cell phone has been dinging all day and night telling me more and more people have favorited and alerted the story!****That makes me so happy, thank you very much for all of your support! And the reviews have really made my day as well, I want to tell you how grateful I am! A very special shout-out to netta, for the extra long review! Your constructive criticism really helped me a lot!  
>All the reviews got me writing through the night, I only slept two hours but I got the second chapter done and the third is really on its way! Thank you all again! <strong>

****Cherry Weasel****

**Organization **

The petit woman only meant to open her eyes just a smidge, but as soon as she did bright sunlight streamed into her pupils and her world imploded.

"Holy shit!" She hissed to herself, trying to move her arms so she could block the sun, until another pain was made known to her. It started as a dull, throbbing pain, but the more aware she became the sharper and more acute it became. Sakura's face was set in a hard grimace, accepting the pain as the events of the day came back to her.

_Motherfucker broke both of my arms_, she thought to herself, closing her emerald eyes once again. There was nothing she could do about the intense pain in her head, nor the broken bones or dislocated shoulder either for that matter. What was a ninja, a med-nin for that meter, without her arms, her _hands_? Nothing useful, that's for sure.

"Ah, Little Leaf!" A booming voice sounded a couple yards in front of her and to her left, "Welcome back to the land of the living!" The voice teased and Sakura tensed up, her knee-jerk reaction to be to prepare for a fight.

"What the hell am I doing here Hoshigaki-san?" Was her calm response, not quite ready or provoked enough to rise to his taunting.

The man chuckled, "Looks like you're just chillin' if you ask me!" Sakura resisted the urge to roll her eyes, dealing with him was like dealing with Naruto. A nine foot tall, blue, Naruto. With gills. But this time she opened her eyes before responding, slowly letting in the light that was sure to make her uncomfortable. Sure enough, from what she could gather from her surroundings, it did indeed look like she was "chillin'" as the shark-nin so aptly put it. She was obviously leaned up against a tree at some point, but without the use of her arms, and not being conscious anyway, she had slumped down with her arms hanging uselessly on the ground. It must have been quite an amusing sight for the man before her.

Sakura took in her surroundings carefully, taking note of anything that would tell her where she was, where they were going or how to get home. Her arms were unbound, not that they were of much use anyway, as were her feet. They were still in the forrest, but the trees were much thicker and taller, leading her to believe that they were somewhere between Fire and Rain, closer to Fire though, judging by how bright the sun was. The ground was dewy but not soaked, it must be a little after morning, they had been traveling through the night. That explained the crick in her neck.

"Where is Uchiha-san?" Sakura heard the anger in her own voice as more events from the fight suddenly came back to her. There wasn't anything personal about the fight when it first started, she almost never went into a battle harboring any personal feelings anymore, she had grown a lot since she was a Genin and didn't allow herself to feel anything but duty whilst on a mission.

But Itachi Uchiha had made it personal the second he kidnapped her. Could it be for bait, for Naruto? Unlikely, since combining chakra with the Kyuubi they had become one in the same. Removal of the demon fox would kill both of them instantaneously, it was futile to even try. Besides, when Naruto killed Akatsuki's leader, Pein, the men had given up on the "God's" search for the tailed beasts. Sakura rolled a few other ideas around in her head, is it probably she was taken for sexual relief? Possibly, all those men in one gang? Plus, the petal haired woman stole a glance at Kisame, he wasn't going to get any willing woman that's for sure. But then why would the Uchiha take her? Was it for her medical expertise? Probably, if the rumors about his diminishing eyesight were true.

The woman sighed and tried to straighten herself up, but doing so only brought more pain. Having decided that it was her medical experience that they needed she felt safe, or safer than she had when she woke up anyway, they wouldn't kill her.

_Not yet, anyway_, Sakura couldn't help but think to herself, always the Devil's advocate.

"Dunno, he said something about scouting, I wasn't paying much attention," the blue man answered her, and gave her a leering look, "I was much too distracted by you."

Sakura raised a delicate, pink, eyebrow, "Is it common practice for you to watch a sleeping woman? Tsk, Tsk Hoshigaki-san, you'll never find true love that way," the kunoichi teased him back and he grinned at her boldness.

"Who said anything about love?" Said the man as he approached her, eyes gleaming in the sun. Sakura felt a quick flash of stupidity, _Not a good idea to provoke him I suppose_ she chastised herself, but she quickly squashed the feeling back to where it came from. Squaring her shoulders best she could, at least the one still in its socket that is, she faced the shark man head on.

Kisame crouched down, trying to get to her level but still towering over the small woman, "Have you found it in your partner maybe? I hear he's going blind, that could work out to your advantage." Came her snippety words. Sarcasm, paired with insults, were one of her natural defenses when she was nervous.

The man looked taken back, caught between wanting to strangle her for her insolence, and laugh at her quick wit. He opted for neither, instead deciding to crawl closer, invading her personal bubble and making her as uncomfortable as humanly possible, "No, I hunger for something a little more delicate," the way he said the word _hunger_ almost made Sakura flinch, but she was a kunoichi, she would show no fear, even if she was sure he was imagining a cross between violating her and eating her.

_Ew, I wonder if he actually does eat people,_ Sakura laughed out loud at the thought, making Kisame sweat drop, a 'WTF' look on his face. She doubted that many people laughed when he got in their faces and threatened them.

Then, a cool, velvety voice interrupter their sinister banter, "Kisame, do not terrorist the target." Six small words, but the message was clear: _back off_. The bigger man sent a glare and made a face at his partner's back, which was facing away as he walked from the woods to the clearing they were camped out in. Sakura's eyes widened at the blatant display of both disrespect toward the Uchiha prodigy and had to cover her sudden laugh with a coughing fit. The shark man turned back to her, winked one of his predatory yellow eyes and stood up to his full height, walking back to where he had been standing before the medic woke up.

"You wouldn't be saying that had you heard what she implied about you, Itachi," he said slyly, trying to goad the younger man into asking what it was. Sakura shot him a look, it was one thing to insult the Naruto of the pair, but it was another thing to insult an Uchiha, if he was anything like his younger brother, he wouldn't appreciate it, and no one gets off crossing him.

"I heard," was his only reply, face calm and uncaring, like he was above petty insults. After the little rush of relief Sakura allowed herself to feel, her anger came back full force at being kidnapped.

"So do one of you mind explaining to me why I've been taken here anyway?" She seethed, glaring at one raven haired man in particular, "Because I really don't appreciate waking up away from my home with only this guy," she jerked her head at Kisame, "for company." Itachi looked at her blandly, not even giving a hint of a response. "And could you have at least tied me? It's insulting that you would leave me here unbound and just assume I won't attack."

"Then why haven't you?" Itachi said at the same time Kisame muttered, "I'll tie you up if that's what you like Little Leaf." Sakura was lost for words at both statements, Kisame's was just pure idiocy and Itachi's halted her. _Why haven't I? _She furrowed her brows in frustration,_ because you broke both my arms you stupid prick!_

But on the outside she just looked at him and glared, "What are my chances of you letting me heal myself?" The Uchiha just turned away at that remark, and Kisame laughed,

"Slim to none, Little Leaf, slim to none."

* * *

><p>"Tsunade-sama! We have to go after her!" Naruto yelled in the face of his Hokage, too fired up to respect her title, not that he ever really did anyway, calling her "Baa-chan" in public and all, "She's in danger! We have to help her!"<p>

"Don't you think I know that, Naruto!" She yelled back at him, standing mere inches away and glaring at the blu-eyed boy, "She's my apprentice, don't think for one second that I'm not as worried as you are!"

"You're not! Otherwise you'd'uv sent someone after her already!" He shouted right back, shaking the walls with his deep voice.

"I _can't_ Naruto! I have to go over all the mission reports first so I can make an informed decision! We have to find out if this was a planned kidnapping or a spur-of-the-moment whim!"

"It doesn't matter!" he cried helplessly, "they took her! They took my Sakura-chan! And if you don't send me after her right now I'm abandoning the village to look for her anyway!" The man seethed, ready to bolt out the window if that's what it took. Amber eyes glared into cerulean ones that stared back in defiance. He _would_ defect form the village to rescue his best friend, of that she had no doubt, it was one of the reasons she made him her successor, but he was going about this all wrong.

"Do you think she would want that? Maybe she's escaped by now Naruto, she's not a child you have to protect anymore, she's in ANBU just like you are. How would she feel if she found out you didn't believe in her enough to help herself, and instead decided to give up your dreams of becoming Hokage by defecting and going after her, huh?" Defiance and anger still shone brightly in the young man's eyes but he was able to see the truth in her words. If he went after Sakura and gave up his dream of becoming Hokage, she would kick his ass and feel horrible about herself, perhaps the same way she used to.

"I'm worried, Baa-chan," Naruto admitted, slumping into the chair in front of her new, un-cracked, desk.

"So am I Naruto, but Sakura can take care of herself, they won't kill her, I promise you that."

"But how do you know?" he asked desperately, "How can you promise me that?" The Slug Princess sighed and looked around her office, making sure the soundproofing seals were still effective, making sure that no one aside from Naruto could hear what she was about to say.

"I think it's time I told you about a certain S-rank mission, assigned by the ex-village elders and grugendly approved by the Third himself, a mission that doesn't exist..." She trailed off and glanced at her successor's confused face. It was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>Sakura sighed, flopping around like a rag doll against a muscular back, cursing the day she was born.<p>

Flashback: The men packed up their small camp quickly and effectively after their conversation lapsed into an extended silence. Both of them held bags with all they needed for surviving in the woods, which, being S-classed missing-nin, wasn't much. Sakura saw that they were getting ready to go and tried to stand so she could run on her own; but her chakra reserves were still low from her fight with Itachi and her legs were weak from not using them in the past half a day, and she stumbled the first step she took.

"Kisame." Was the only thing Itachi had said before running ahead of them, a blinding blur of speed.

"Yeah, yeah," he said and started toward the much smaller woman in front of him, "You're coming with me." Was all she heard before she was roughly tossed into the air and landed on a hard, broad shoulder, Kisame's big hand holding the back of her thighs, anchoring her there.

"You're fucking kidding me," she deadpanned and started thrashing her legs on his chest, "there is no way in hell that you're carrying me! Just give me a second I'll run on my own!"

"How do we know you're not going to try and escape, eh Pinky?" Sakura blew out a puff of air, moving her coral hair out of her face, her french braid had long since become disheveled in her fight with Itachi and traveling over night. Though some of it stayed in the strict fashion, many tendrils had escaped and annoyed her.

"Do you really think I'm stupid enough to try and escape from the infamous Hoshigaki Kisame and Uchiha Itachi, with two broken arms, a dislocated shoulder, and close to no chakra? Even Naruto wouldn't try that," she scoffed, thinking fondly about her best friend.

"Are you sure about that?"

Sakura let out a dry laugh, "No, he probably would. Not that he'd ever find himself in this situation anyway," she muttered the last part. Kisame pretended not to hear her, uncaring, and started off in a jerky run the same direction Itachi had.

End flashback.

"Kisame-san," Sakura called over her shoulder, giving up on formalities with a man that insisted on calling her "Little Leaf" or worse, "Pinky," "will you please let me heal at least one of my arms, I feel like a rag doll over here!" The man holding her just laughed and ran faster, keeping even pace with his partner despite carrying another body.

"C'mon! I can't even stop myself from hitting my head whenever you jump!" She felt stupid banging her head on his back as they moved through the trees, and it was starting to hurt, too. The after effects of being under Itachi's Tsukuyomi weren't pleasant on their own, but paired with a constant thump against her head made it worse. Though, she guessed she had nothing to complain about. Itachi hadn't done anything whilst she was in his Tsukuyomi, as he had to Kakashi, he merely knocked her out with it, for quite some time at that.

As her train of thought ended, Sakura's carrier came to a sudden, and painful for her, halt on a thick limb. He wordlessly took her off of his shoulder, supporting more of her ass than her thighs, which earned him a glare and a well-placed kick to the shin once she was steady on the branch.

"Why're we stopping?" Kisame's question reflected the one she hadn't voiced, and the two of them turned to look at Itachi, who stared wordlessly back.

Bypassing Kisame on the limb, Itachi walked calmly toward the kunoichi, who looked at his forehead as she had during their fight. Even if they weren't going to kill her, he could still torture her, and she assumed that's what he was going to do for her incessant complaining. However the cool face of the eldest Uchiha looked anything but malicious as he stood in front of the rosette, opening his mouth, the man spoke,

"I propose a trade." This earned quite the pair of looks from either side of him. Kisame's mouth dropped, the thought of Uchiha Itachi proposing a trade, instead of demanding for something as he was rightly deserving of it, was a new thing to him. Sakura looks dubious, her straight white teeth worrying her full pink bottom lip.

Resigned, she replied, "What do you propose, Uchiha-san?" He grunted, unhappy to have to use words to convey his thoughts, as opposed to his usual 'hn' but he brought it upon himself.

"I will allow you to heal one of your arms, so you are able to stop yourself from hitting your head every time Kisame jumps, if you will heal me in return." Sakura gave him a look of utter disbelief, speaking before thinking, something she almost never did except when outraged.

"You expect me to heal your eyes back to perfect condition for a trade of me being able to heal a broken arm?" Her voice was full of bitter sarcasm, "You're out of your mind Uchiha! There's no way in hell I'm healing your eyes at all, let alone for a petty trade of-" Itachi stopped her by holding out his hand, which was still very burned from Katsuyu's acid. A light blush covered the medic's face, embarrassed at her outburst, "Oh," she said awkwardly, "right." Kisame laughed in the background but the two facing each other ignored him, something he was used to, being partnered with Itachi for so long. "Yeah, that sounds fair."

Itachi ignored her outburst and looked down at his own hand. He had not be "scouting" as he told Kisame earlier when he had left him with the woman at the camp, rather looking for a plant that he could manipulate into a salve for his burns. However nothing he did eased the pain, which only grew worse with time, and he decided it must be part of the technique.

Sakura looked at the burns as well, impressed by how unemotional the man before her could appear. She worked with Katsuyu for years and knew how much the burns hurt, especially after they had been allowed to sit and fester. There was no cure for them unless you were a medic-nin, which is why Tsunade had chosen her as her summoning. Sakura looked at Itachi's high cheekbone, still refusing to meet his gaze out of habit, and awkwardly shuffled.

"You're going to have to assist me, I can't heal you unless I heal myself first, and in order for that to happen I'm going to need you to place my hand where I tell you to, I don't think I'll be able to do to and stay steady while I heal," her voice took on a new tone as she explained to him what to do, her doctors voice. Itachi "hn"ed and grabbed the her hand. Sakura tried not to think about how warm his hand was around hers, or how even though it was slightly rough with caluses, it was still soft where it mattered.

"Place the tips of my fingers by my ulna," she directed and he obliged immediately. Green chakra appeared at her fingers and she began healing the comminuted break there. He had really crushed her arm for it to have broken in so many places, but it didn't matter to her, it was healed in under a minute. "Now please move my hand up a little to my humerus," He did that as well and she healed the small splinters in her upper arm bone. Flexing her fingers to test out how everything was connected she smiled, satisfied with her work.

Itachi watched the muscles and bones move fluidly again under her creamy skin, mesmerized by how she had healed herself so quickly. The green glow of her chakra was etched into his memory and he savored the sight of her concentrating. Realizing he was still staring at her arm, he met her gaze, before she quickly turned her eyes elsewhere.

_Even though she knows we will not kill her, she is still cautious with her actions, _Itachi noted to himself, still collecting information about the woman before him.

"I'm going to need for Kisame-san to help me out for the next part now, if you don't mind." And without waiting for an answer, the woman moved around Itachi to his taller partner.

"What is it you need, that my partner couldn't provide you with, Pinky?" he asked with a suggestive wink, "Because whatever it is, I'll be more than happy to help you out with it." Sakura rolled her eyes and approached the man.

"You better watch out, because once this arm is fixed you have a well-deserved fist coming your way." He laughed and put crossed his arms over his chest, clearly not intimidated by the threats, "Okay, I want you to put one hand on my shoulder," he placed his giant hand there, where her neck and shoulder met, "and the other, wrap it around my upper arm." Kisame's eyes showed understanding at what he had to do and braced himself.

"You want something to bite down on?" He asked and she shook her head.

"This isn't the first time someone has had to set a dislocated shoulder for me, it's no problem," she replied and braced herself as well. She heard him count to three and felt him jam the ball back into its socket before straightening it out and rotating it a little, making sure it was in all the way. Her face showed no outward signs of pain but her eyes were crinkled in discomfort.

"Perfect," said said and gave the arm a few experimental rolls, "that feels much better, thank you." The blue man shrugged, and turned back to his bag, ready to take off yet again. Sakura healed around the socket a little with the same hand and made sure everything worked properly. You couldn't just heal a dislocated joint, it had to be set first, and there was no way to do that with chakra, you needed to physically set it.

"Haruno-san," Itachi's voice called from behind her and she turned around to acknowledge him. As soon as she turned around, though, he was already stand right there, uncomfortably close.

"Right," Sakura confirmed, a little confused at his proximity. Wordlessly, Itachi held out his burned hand for her to inspect. She took a quick look at it, turning it palm up and then palm down again with her good hand, before she started healing. Having worked with burns from Katsuyu for many years, she knew exactly how to heal them, and did so in a matter of seconds.

Itachi watched as she inspected his hand for only a moment, her elegant fingers dancing over his skin. She moved his hand this way and that and confirmation crossed her features. Her hand glowed green and the intense burning feeling that had been engulfing his hand was suddenly washed away with cooling chakra. If he had any less control over himself, Itachi would have sighed in relief. Her healing chakra felt so good on his skin, a vast difference in comparison to the chakra she had used on him while they fought.

"There!" She said with a little grin, "fixed!" He saw her eyes close in self-satisfaction and and began to turn to walk back toward his partner. Before she could, however, Itachi's hand shot out, grabbing the fingers on her broken arm and turning her back toward him.

"Uchiha-san?" Was all she got out before he squeezed her fingers, at first lightly, marveling at how they fit in his hand, and then harder, until five resounding snaps were heard.

"What the fuck!" She yelled, grabbing her hand back, now sporting five broken fingers. Lightning fast, before she could begin to heal them, Itachi whipped what looked like a bracelet out of his thigh pouch and snapped it on her good arm.

Sakura glared up at him, malice in her eyes, when she realized it was a chakra-inhibiting bracelet, infused with Itachi's own jutsu, "How long were you planning that one for?" She asked with scorn in her voice.

"If you are to have a free arm, you will not be able to use the other one." Came his cool reply, and he took off into the trees. Sakura flipped him off with her good hand, knowing he couldn't see it, but feeling satisfied anyway.

Kisame laughed and grabbed her, throwing her over his shoulder yet again, "This is what I have to deal with every day," he said and she patted his back in pity.

"Think you can let me run now?" She asked hopefully, already knowing the answer and the reasons behind it.

"Heh," he replied, "without chakra you'll just tire out and slow us down." she lowered her head to rest on her hand, which she propped up on her back in defeat, "Besides, I like carrying you much better," he finished, laughing as he launched forward into the forrest.

* * *

><p>Deidara could hear the pair before he could see them, which was quite different than usual. The raven-haired man almost never talked, and though Kisame was a motormouth, it's hard to converse with the wall that was Uchiha Itachi. But this time, Deidara could head his booming voice sounding off of the woods, and a much softer, sweeter responding voice. Deidara perked up to listen closer, his position change alerting the ever-oblivious Toby to who was coming toward them.<p>

"Deidara-sempaiiiii! I hear Fishy! And Ita-kun tooooo!" The man in the orange swirled mask sang into his ear. Dancing around in one of the many Akatsuki training fields, the spaz-tastic ninja didn't even notice the third chakra that accompanied the two he recognized.

Kisame let out a loud guffaw in the woods, sounding closer this time, and a sound like bells soon followed. _A girls laugh?_ Deidara wondered to himself, _Why the hell would they bring a little girl to the Akatsuki base, it's full of dangerous S-ranked missing-nin, yeah! The hell are they thinking..._

But as soon as the trio appeared out of the woods, Deidara could tell that this was no girl that Itachi and Kisame brought home, but a woman.

Itachi was in the lead, looking as anal as ever, his face flat and emotionless, eyes dull and that stupid red colour. Kisame was behind him, towering over the Uchiha as he did with everyone else. He was smiling an easy smile, a twinkle in his eyes at whatever he had just laughed at.

A woman was draped over Kisame's large shoulder, like a sack of rice. Deidara couldn't see her face, but he had an eyeful as it was. Long, shapely legs hung over Kisame's shoulder, multiple weapons pouches were bandaged to her muscular, creamy thigh. Her upper legs were covered with spandex , a couple inches up from her knee and a short skirt that looked like it was worn more to cover her tight spandex covered ass, for modesty, rather than be used as a skirt. But no amount of fabric could cover-up what a nice ass it was. Tight and perky, every guys wet dream.

"Deidara-sempai, your nose is bleeding," Toby stage whispered before turning and looking at the new addition that was being carried in. "Ooooh! Pretty girl!" He jumped up and down from one foot to another in excitement. Deidara turned away and wiped his nose, _Shit, the kid was right...yeah._

"Yeah, pretty heavy!" The shark-nin exclaimed and not-so-gently dropped the woman on the ground, "God Pinky how much do you weigh!" The man teased, pretending to work out a kink in his shoulder.

"Can it, Tuna-breath, I can still kick your ass with one arm!" She said back, her voice followed by a peel of light laughter, and raised a single fist, her other arm hanging by her side like a wet noodle.

Deidara turned back around to assess the top half of the kunoichi and almost had to run for some more tissues. His eyes traveled appreciatively up an obviously flat and tone cloth covered stomach to her breasts, _C-cups, mmm_ he thought to himself lecherously. Her good arm was still raised in a fist by Kisame's face, her subtle muscles flexed, but her other arm was covered in black and blue, her fingers were all twisted and mangled, obviously broken.

Then, somehow missing it upon first glance, he noticed her hair. Waist length and framing her petit body, it shone in the sun like a beacon. A _pink_ beacon.

_Where have I seen that hair before, yeah?_

Then, finally, after looking the woman from the bottom up, Deidara's gaze landed on her face, and was immediately floored by her sparkling green eyes filled with mirth.

Mere seconds later, however, Toby lost any control he had on his excitement and rushed the exotic rosette.

"Pretty lady!" He screamed and ran at her, undoubtedly going for a giant bear hug, his unfortunate usual greeting. Head bowed so as to be her height, he was a blur of speed, but the kunoichi was prepared. As soon as he got close enough she grabbed onto his head with her non-broken hand and used him as leverage to flip over him, doing the full splits in mid-air.

_...splits..._was all the bombing specialist could think as she landed and Toby went crashing into the ground.

"Hah! Told you so Pinky, he wants to hug _everyone_ though who can blame him for going after you like that, eh?" Kisame laughed and pointed at her, who had one hand on her hip, facing him and Itachi.

"Hn." Itachi turned away from his three and faced the medic he had captured to heal his eyes. "Come."

Sakura effectively ignored him and turned to the arsonist, "Deidara-san," She greeted, and oh how he loved the way his name passed through those luscious pink lips of hers. Deidara looked at her, ever the confused man, and tilted his head to the side. "You probably don't remember me, it was a while ago and I was much younger, my name is Haruno Sakura, I'm the one that killed your partner, Sasori of the Red Sands." She stuck out her hand as if she introduced herself that way all the time.

The blue-eyed man grasped her hand with his, feeling how soft and feminine it was, and gave her his crooked half-smile that always made the ladies hearts throb. She just tilted her head to the left and shook his hand.

* * *

><p>Sakura could smell the anger coming from Itachi, he looked outwardly calm and collected, but she had just snubbed him in front of his fellow Akatsuki members, and was sure not to take too kindly to that. Thank God for Kiba teaching her how to smell emotions, it was going to be very useful with this man.<p>

"Haruno-san," his voice held just the tiniest bit of aggression, "Come. Now."

Sakura felt her eyes turn to slits and before she could think of what she was going to say she turned to the red-eyed man, "Fuck off Uchiha, I already told you I wasn't going to heal your damn eyes."

The repercussion of telling him so was instantaneous. She found herself slammed up against one of the trees on the edge of the training ground so fast her head was spinning. Her back cracked through the tree much like it had when he threw her before, and his Mangekyou were spinning rapidly.

"You will come with me now, and you _will heal my eyes_," and the way he looked at her she knew that around here, his word was law. So, staring at the tip of his nose, just inches away from her own, she sealed her fate.

"Bite me."

And, much like the end of their last fight, he caught her eyes with his own, forcing him into his personal world, but unlike last time, it would be filled with pain. Itachi took insolence from no one.

* * *

><p>Deidara's jaw hit the floor the second the woman, Sakura, told Itachi to fuck off. Nobody spoke back to Itachi, not outright like that. Hell, he didn't think <em>Kisame<em> had the balls to do that, and judging from his similar face, he hadn't expected it either.

The two were against a tree five years away, his larger masculine body pressed her smaller one into a tree that had cracked with the force of him slamming her against it. There were more words spoken that the others couldn't head and then Sakura's body went limp in Itachi's hands and he let her body drop to the dirt ground.

_He used the Mangekyou on her? _Deidara screamed in his head, still too shocked to say anything out-loud.

"Aw, c'mon Itachi, twice in three days? I haven't seen you be so cruel in a long while." Kisame complained, which is when Deidara found his voice.

"_Twice in three days!_ What the hell, yeah! She's just a girl she can't take that!" But the rest of Deidara's words died on his lips as Itachi's blood red eyes were turned on him, anger in their depths.

"Put her in The Cell." Itachi spoke and walked away from the crumpled body of the beautiful captive.

"_The_ Cell Itachi? Really?" Kisame asked, wanting to change his mind but unable to find the bravery to go against an enraged Uchiha's words. He just received a scathing look and the man left, presumedly to his room. Itachi hadn't said, a cell, rather The Cell, which could only mean one thing.

He was going to torture the woman until she finally agreed to heal his eyes.

* * *

><p>Sakura awoke a day later, eyes darting around and body shaking, whether from the cold, or what she had been through, she wasn't sure. Itachi's world had been horrible, worse than Kakashi could have ever described. Black and red clouds, the occasional flash of white or gray, but otherwise colourless.<p>

She was strapped to a cross, as her sensei described, and before her were a hundred Itachi clones.

"You will pay for your insolence." They all had spoken at once, and one by one they rammed their katanas into her soft, pliable flesh. She had screamed, nobody could stay silent through the seventy-two hours of slow motion torture, but she never once begged for it to stop. She didn't admit defeat, never begged for him to stop, didn't agree to heal his eyes or give in. In fact, a few times Sakura asked for it, taunting him, telling him he stabbed like a pussy.

Turning on her side, Sakura felt cold, wet stone bite into her skin and knew she was in a cell, a dungeon of sorts. It was pitch black but she could smell the rot and decay, moving her hand she reached out and felt the putrid body of a previous inmate. The smell, feel and pain proved too much, even for a seasoned medic. She turned her head and puked on the floor, hearing it hit the ground with a wet plop.

"Ugh, that was disgusting," she spoke to no one, and wiped her mouth on the hem of her torn and dirty shirt. "Fucking Akatsuki."

A metal clang sounded above her and a bright light entered the otherwise dark domain. Someone had opened the door and was walking down metal stairs to where she lay. The door closed again, enveloping the two in complete night. Not wanting to look weak in front of the criminal that was surly on his way down here, she used the wall as a brace and with much effort stood up, ready to face whoever this was head on.

"Have you learned your lesson Haruno-san?" Itachi's velvet voice swam around her ears, seemingly from everywhere. He no longer smelled of anger, rather contentment, as if she were a naughty puppy he had just put in its place. His smugness only fueled the inner fire that was her anger.

"Are you ready to behave? You will heal my eyes," Itachi demanded.

"But Uchiha-san," Sakura cooed in a seductive tone, "it's much more fun to be naughty, don't you think?" She could just feel him pause, unsure of how to take her words. The next thing she said made his decision for him.

Her head lifted in a grace and self assuredness that took years to obtain Sakura put the final nail in her own coffin, "Uchiha Itachi, I would sooner kill myself than heal your eyes."

The stagnant air around her rippled and only inches from her face were enraged Sharingan, the only colour she could see in the inky darkness that was the dungeon was red.

"When I'm done with you, you'll wish you were dead." Itachi promised, his warm breath fanning over Sakura's pale face.

"So be it."

For days afterward, the only thing the other Akatsuki members could hear when they were around that section of the base was screaming.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope you enjoyed the second chapter of _Cherry Weasel_! Expect an update probably by the end of the weekend, I'm almost done with the third chapter now! Don't forget to review please! :)**

**Much love,  
>Vera<strong>

"I believe in everything until it's disproved. So I believe in fairies, the myths, dragons. It all exists, even if it's in your mind. Who's to say that dreams and nightmares aren't as real as the here and now?"  
>-John Lennon<p> 


	3. Escape

**Since the dawn of time the Uchiha have put friends and enemies alike under a spell with their Sharingan. But what happens when a certain medic unknowingly puts the Uchiha prodigy under a spell with her own mesmerizing eyes? "I will have her," he said possessively, "She's mine."**

**ItachixSakura**

**Rated M**

**A/N: Whew, over 7,800 words in this one, longest chapter yet! You guys have seriously made my day, favoriting and reviewing this story. I even got added to a few "favorite author" lists! You've made me so happy, so here's a gift! Third chapter in three days!  
>Now, I want to say that you <em>really<em> shouldn't expect me to update this fast ever again. I've been sick and in a car for 12 hours over the past three days (I was just vacationing in Canada) so I didn't have much else to do, but I will still update as fast as I can! I make sure to plan out a few chapters in advance, so I don't have too much writer's block, so far it hasn't been a problem at all. So thank you very much again, without any further ado, here's _Cherry Weasel!_**

**Cherry Weasel**

**Escape**

Itachi didn't want to be slicing into Sakura's creamy flesh, but she left him no choice. She was making him take these drastic measures by refusing to heal his eyes. She disrespected him in front of his underlings and that was inexcusable, and even now as he tortured her day in and day out, she continued to taunt him with her weak insults.

"Oh I'm sorry Uchiha-san, are you trying to hurt me, I thought it was a tickle," she said, her words like honey. He didn't give her a response, as usual, he was above such taunting, or at least acted like it.

It was almost beautiful, how her skin split apart as he ran his kunai over it, sometimes the cuts were deep and bled a lot, other times he merely gave her paper cuts. He admired her ability to stay strong during the process. She had been kept down here for two and a half weeks now, chakraless. Every day he joined her for a morning session, lunch, and an afternoon session.

Of course, by session, he meant hour after hour of torture, both physical as well as mental, with his Tsukuyomi and kunai. But Sakura had no relented, not even once. She never begged for him to stop nor pretended to give in, if only for a moment of relief. There was no sign of relenting in her soulful eyes, and for some reason that made Itachi oddly proud.

_She is a strong woman,_ he thought to himself,_ strong, and beautiful too. It's disappointing to mar such excellence. _

Itachi was careful not to cut her deep enough to leave ugly scars, for some reason it seemed like such a waste. As he caressed her skin with another long stroke, not penetrating rather letting her know he had the power to, Itachi noticed she had fallen asleep.

He had to say, she was the first person he had ever tortured that had actually fallen asleep during it. It wasn't the first time she had, either, it happened on and off, her body too weak to stay awake. He ate lunch with her every day, that was the only meal she got. Almost three weeks she had been unable to eat or replenish her chakra thanks to his bracelet and it was taking a toll on her. The cell wasn't very comfortable to sleep in, either, he noticed. And the girl needed a bath, desperately.

"Haruno-san," Itachi spoke, trying to wake her from her trancelike sleep, "Haruno-san, get up," he ordered but the rosette wasn't having it. Itachi sighed and made up his mind. Torturing her wouldn't work if she kept falling asleep throughout the process, and Itachi wanted to be done with it soon.

Something in him knew there was a better way to get what he wanted, but he had to keep up appearances as unofficial leader of the Akatsuki. The second Naruto had killed their former leader, Pein, the organization turned to him for instructions, some more begrudgingly than others.

Itachi weighed his options, the pros and cons, to the decision he was about to make. The pros were that his eyes would finally be healed, something he desperately needed, as he was indeed going blind. The cons, however, were hefty. He had kidnapped and trapped a free spirit here in a dark, damp dungeon. Itachi was a free spirit as well, and knew how she must feel, trapped by his four walls, he felt the very same way in his childhood home. He had also been torturing the woman day in and day out, trying to get her to betray her village, his former village, and heal a wanted murder. Itachi was impressed by her love and loyalty to the people in Konoha, but it was hindering his mission.

Finally done debating with himself, Itachi collected the limp and broken woman in his arms and carried her up the metal stairs, destined for his room.

* * *

><p>"Got any twos Hidan-kunnn?" The voice of a nine year old boy came out of a mans body, who was trying to peek over his Go Fish partner's cards to check and see.<p>

"Go fuckin' motherfuckin' fish, dipshit," came the the Jashin worshiper's annoyed response. How had he gotten himself into this situation?

"Motherfuckin' fish, like Kisame! Right Hidan-kun?" The black haired man shouted in exuberance at making the connection.

"Yeah, right Toby. Got any kings?" The boy jumped up, throwing his cards in the air and knocking the men's drinks over.

"Toby got BINGO! Toby is A GOOD BOY!" He shouted and ran around the bases living room, shouting with glee.

The silver haired man jumped up and grabbed his scythe, giving chase to the trouble-making ninja, "Toby you fucking idiot! Get your ass back her you imbecile so I can fucking sacrifice you to Jashin-sama! FUCKING A!"

As the two were playing cat and mouse a metal door down the hall slammed and they could hear firm, even footsteps coming their way.

"Keep it down." Was the Uchiha's only command, and though both of the men froze where they stood, it had nothing to do with the foreboding man, rather what he held in his arms.

The broken and bleeding body of a pink-haired woman was draped across his arms. Limp and lifeless, skin white as snow with purple bags under her closed eyes. Cuts of different depths littered her skin, and bruises painted the canvas that was her body. Her legs both seemed to be broken, and there were bones protruding out of the skin on both of her arms. Her lips were dry and cracked and her skin seemed sullen, sunken in on her bones. She looked and smelled like she had been to hell and back, and Hidan was quick to catch on to who it was.

"So this is the med-nin you've been torturing for a couple of weeks? The cunt finally give in?" He asked, ogling Sakura's marred skin, missing how Itachi's eyes narrowed at him calling Sakura a bitch.

"Hn," he walked away, in the direction of his room, leaving Hidan and Toby to themselves.

"W-was that the pretty lady from before?" Toby asked, his bottom lip quivering as if he was going to cry, "She was so nice to Toby," he said, remembering his own warped memory of their meeting, "Why did Ita-kun do bad things to her?"

Hidan still stared at the doorway where Itachi left from with the woman, "I don't know Toby," he said, licking his lips, "but it's making me fucking horny. I wonder what Jashin would want me to do with a disaster as beautiful as her?"

* * *

><p>Itachi drew warm water into the bath in his room, filling it to the perfect height and stopping the flow. Next he looked into the bedroom connected to his personal bath, his bedroom, at the woman passed out on his bed. She almost seemed to belong in his room, on his bed. Itachi let the the thoughts and feeling pass, returning to his unemotional face.<p>

He had broken most every major bone in her body, some more than once, so a shower was completely out of the question, but the woman needed to be cleaned. _I'll leave her bindings and spandex on,_ he decided quickly. Uchiha Itachi was many things, but he would not take advantage of a sleeping woman.

Removing her Leaf headband, gloves, empty weapon pouches, scrolls, shirt and sandals he looked over the petit kunoichi in his arms. The lack of light in the dungeon paired with his ever darkening vision had hindered his ability to see exactly what he had done to her.

It was worse than he thought, and he had assumed it was pretty bad, but looking at her scantily clad form in the light of his room really opened his eyes. He knew every bone that he broke, and had mesmerized each time she forced him to cut into her flesh, but the whole picture together was something else entirely. Itachi felt a pang of regret, someone he hadn't felt in a very, very long time. Here was a woman who was as loyal to her village as he was, and for the past two weeks he had been trying to break her, force her to betray all that she loved.

And yet, she hadn't even come close to doing so. Pride blossomed in Itachi's chest, and before he could stop himself he reached his hand up and brushed her hair across her face and out of her eyes.

Another minute passed before Itachi consciously realized that he was feeling something, emotions, something he had been working so hard to bury. Disgusted with himself he roughly gathered the petal-haired woman in his arms and placed her in the warm water, gently in spite of himself.

* * *

><p>Sakura could feel herself being immersed in warm water up to her neck, her whole body was covered, even the tips of her toes. She sighed in her sleep, happy to be having a nice dream for once. Whenever sleep found her in that cell she just dreamt of the things Itachi had been doing to her, only to wake up and have it start all over again.<p>

But this, this was nice. She could feel someone washing her, starting with her feet and working their way up her long, lean legs. She winced every few seconds, it seems that she couldn't escape her broken bones even while dreaming. However, with every wince she made, the person seemed to be more and more gentle with her. Maybe she was at a bath-house. She had visited one with the updated version of team seven a year or so ago. Naruto had caught his master peeking onto her side of the baths and couldn't choose between protecting his best friend, or looking at her as well. In the end, Sakura had made the decision for him; apprentice and master both spotted matching black eyes for weeks.

The med-nin giggled at the memory, still under a few layers of sleep. The moment the bell-like sound escaped her mouth and floated into the air the person washing her paused, Sakura could feel eyes on her but didn't care and fell into an even deeper sleep.

* * *

><p>Itachi couldn't believe his ears when the woman he was washing let out a soft, happy giggle. His first thought was that she had woken up and became one of those fangirls he feared. Stopping his ministrations on her skin he looked at her heart-shaped face. Satisfied that she was dreaming, Itachi finished washing her body and moved to her hair.<p>

This was going to be difficult, as not only had he never washed another person's hair before, but it was so much of it! And it was tangled and dirty from the weeks sleeping on a cell floor.

Sighing, and wondering why he had even started this, Itachi got the shampoo and began lathering her long pink locks. The small woman in front of him sighed again, and he couldn't help but think of other ways he could make her sigh for him, but as quickly as the thought appeared he pushed it away. He hadn't been with a woman in a long time, and having one almost-naked in his tub wasn't making things easier, even if he couldn't _really_ see her.

Itachi could tell Sakura was an exotically attractive woman, beautiful given Toby's reaction, and hot, given Deidara's. He could tell how tall she was, that she had a nice body in general, that her green eyes were brilliant and her pink hair stunning, but it was like looking at someone out of strong prescription sunglasses. Blurry, dark and he couldn't see the whole picture, instead having to focus on parts one by one.

The Uchiha prodigy sighed, copying the woman he was bathing. He dunked the back of her head under water, rinsing the shampoo out of her hair and began working a ton of conditioner into it.

He thought while he worked, about how alike the two of them were, doing whatever they could, no matter the personal cost, to protect a village that didn't truly deserve it. He pitied the young woman, who was as blind as he had been before he was told of the Uchiha Clan Coup, and accepted to ANBU.

Letting Sakura's hair soak in the conditioner and ran a masculine finger over her own ANBU tattoo on her upper left arm. He didn't believe it when he first saw it in the beginning of their battle near Konoha, but these past three weeks had changed his mind drastically.

Her brilliance, speed, power and wit were all obvious a few moves into the battle, but since then he had also seen many other ANBU worthy attributes. Her ability to withstand days upon days of torture, use her weaknesses as a strength, and above all, her unwavering loyalty.

Itachi washed the conditioner out of the kunoishi's hair and pulled the bath's plug, letting the murky water slowly drain, to reveal a clean woman. The only stains on her skin now were the cuts and bruises he had given her, along with a few bones that had broken through her delicate skin.

The onyx-eyed man gathered the small woman in a fluffy black towel and carried her to the bed, laying her down and looking for something for her to wear, her clothes were too revealing now that they had been destroyed, and he didn't like knowing the other men at the base would be able to see her bare skin.

FInding his favorite black sweatpants and a big black sleeping tee with the Uchiha crest on the back, he brought them back to the woman.

_What am I going to do with her wet clothes?_ Itachi groaned, not thinking that if he bathed her in her wrappings and such that they would be wet afterwards. He eyed the woman distrustingly, hoping and praying to Kami that she wouldn't wake up. Walking up to where she lay peacefully on the bed, Itachi brushed his knuckles up against the side of her bindings before jumping back as if he had been burned.

_Good, they're the same as the bindings we use on our weapons pouch. _Itachi thanked whoever was looking over him that kunoichi used the same waterproof bindings on their breasts that most ninja used to attach weapon pouches on themselves. _That takes care of that problem_, he thought and slipped his large shirt over her head, covering her almost to mid-thigh.

Thinking quickly, before he could psych himself out, Itachi created a clone, grabbed some of his own navy-blue boxers and slipped her wet underwear off of her, facing away the whole time, then, with the help of his clone who was also diligently looking in the opposite direction he slipped the boxers up her long white legs until they wrapped snugly around her womanly hips.

The clone dispelled in an awkward poof, leaving Itachi to pull the huge sweatpants over her broken legs carefully, tying the drawstring as tight as it could to fit her slim waist.

Emotionally drained at being torn between wanting to be the gentleman his mother raised him to be and to help out a fellow ninja got the best of him. He closed his tired eyes and lay next to the beautiful kunoichi, only meaning to rest for a moment.

* * *

><p>Sakura woke up the next day in a plush bed, surrounded by warmth and feeling wonderfully, gloriously, <em>clean<em>. One of her biggest discomforts about being tortured is how dirty she had become, a little mud didn't bother her, but weeks of grime, blood and sweat was almost enough torture in itself.

Laying in the bed she just soaked up the feeling of comfort, not caring how she got there or who had bathed and changed her. _Maybe_, she hoped,_ Naruto found me! I knew he would!_ The whole time she had been a captive she prayed that Naruto would find her, since there was no way she could fight a base full of Akatsuki by herself, especially in this condition.

Then she took in her surroundings, and the blossom of hope that had bloomed in her chest shriveled up and died.

"Looks like I'm still on my own," she said to herself, as she was clearly in the Uchiha's room. No other Akatsuki member looked like they would keep such a collection of books like he did, nor would they keep their rooms as clean as his was, plus, it just _smelled_ like him. Spending as long as she had with the same man torturing you day in and day out, you got to know them.

Seeing the door in front of her and the window to her right, Sakura made her decision. She was going to use _that_ jutsu, one of the last resort justus that her master, Tsunade, had taught her. Taking one more look around, Sakura confirmed that it was not only her only option, but it was now or never.

She was going to escape.

* * *

><p>Three of the remaining five Akatsuki members sat around a table playing Poker, waiting for their unofficial leader and his partner to come back and give them a mission, something to do. Itachi had left early that morning, looking much less composed than he usually did, and ordered them to keep an eye on the kunoichi sleeping in his room, they were to make sure she didn't leave but no one was to enter. The silent <em>or else<em> hung over their heads.

"What do you think crawled up Itachi's ass and died, yeah?" Deidara asked, eyeing the forbidden door down the hall.

"Ass is a mean word Deidara-sempai," Toby informed him diligently his face masked as always but his tone was that of a child's teaching a lesson, "You don't want Ita-kun to hear you say that or he'll kill you."

A lavender eyed man exploded, "Fucking A Toby _I'm_ going to fucking kill you if you don't lay your Jashin-damn cards on the table!" Toby's one eye crinkled in what was sure to be a smile and did as he was told, proclaiming himself "A Good Boy" as always. Deidara just rolled his eyes, having gotten used to the man's antics a long while ago, being his partner and all.

How he wanted to hate the woman sleeping a few doors down, for killing Sasori no Dana and inadvertently getting him paired up with Toby, but he just couldn't. _She doesn't look like she could hurt a fly...yeah_

"Where's Uchiha-san?" KIsame's deep voice called out as he entered the room, looking around with a slightly dazed look on his face.

"How much have you had to drink Fish-face, yeah?" Deidara asked, gesturing at the still-confused man that barley fit in the room, "_Uchiha-san_?"

"I meant to say Itachi," the man gave an easy shrug and went to the fridge, taking about half of its contents out and spreading them across the kitchen table in the adjoined room. A hungry look passed over his face before he began wolfing his meal down, eating everything from week old chicken to a piece of toast he found laying around in the back of the fridge.

"The fuck are you fucking doing?" Hidan asked, the three of them watching Kisame attack the refrigerator.

"I'm fucking hungry what does it look like?" Was all he said before shoveling more food down his throat.

"Tch, whatever, yeah," the three went back to their poker game, mostly focused on making sure Toby didn't eat the chips.

No one saw "Kisame" packing a burlap bag full of food and kunai that were lying around, and turn to the door.

"I'm going out to the store, tell Itachi I'll be home later." He didn't even get a response from the three men that were suppose to be guarding "him". _That was almost too easy_, Sakura thought to herself, still disguised in a very complex jutsu, as Kisame.

* * *

><p>Itachi left earlier that morning to meditate by himself deep in the woods, trying to collect his thoughts and return to the ever-emotionless person he had been up until three weeks ago. Something about that girl had awoken his long forgotten emotions and he didn't like it. Emotions made a ninja weak, they had to be dealt with immediately, swiftly and surly.<p>

The raven-haired man of twenty-six didn't start walking back until late, much past dinner. _I wonder if Sakura-san will be awake yet_, he mulled over to himself. Not that it mattered, he was just anxious for her to heal his eyes, which she was sure to do now that she knew what it felt like not to be tortured again. She'll think long and hard about her response this time when he told her to heal his eyes, that was for sure.

Coming through the clearing to the well-hidden base, Itachi felt a disturbance coming from inside. Probably another fight, without as many missions as before the organization members had been fighting amongst themselves.

Itachi slammed the main doors open, making his presence well known, as if his deadly chakra hadn't already seeped into the house.

"How as Sakura-san been?" Was his first question, looking at each and everyone of the four males in front of him.

"_Sakura-san_, eh Itachi?" Kisame teased, "Is someone getting a little attached to their target?" Though it was only meant as a joke, the already provoked Uchiha disappeared from in front of the blue man and reappeared behind him an instant later, sending him flying forward with a powerful kick. The three other members looked at one another, to Itachi, then to Kisame who was fuming on the other side of the room, his body halfway through a solid wood wall.

"Does anyone else have anything they'd like to say to me?" Was his controlled question to which he received no response, "Good."

The man then cooly and calmly walked from the room, out the doorway and entered his room. The living and dining room were quite for a few moments. Kisame got himself out of the wall, grumbling about poles and asses, while the other three members tried to get back to their game. Everyone was calm, if only for a moment, until a sudden burst of angry, power, _dark_ chakra came from Itachi's room.

The four Akatsuki members exchanged "oh SHIT" looks before turning toward the sound of someone coming down the hall.

"Deidara? Hidan?" Came an icy voice, "Where is my medic?" Their eyes widened at how calm he sounded, and yet how dangerously angry he felt, judging on how his chakra swirled around the room, filling ever crack and crevice with its malice.

"W-what do you mean where is she? She did't come out of the room, I swear!" Deidara said, looking around confused, what this some sort of joke?

Itachi turned his gaze to the Jashinist, "Don't fucking look at me, I haven't seen that bitch since you carried her in there. I don't think she's fucking going anywhere either, with what you did to her." Hidan responded, seemingly undisturbed. How could anyone with a body as broken as hers get anywhere?

"And yet, she is gone."

Toby looked from member to member before speaking up, "Did you see her at the store, Kisame-kun?" the shark man looked at him like he was crazy, and this wouldn't be the first time he gave the members reason to think so.

"What in Kami's name are you talking about, Psycho? I wasn't at the store today." Both Deidara and Hidan turned to look at him at that statement.

"That's what you told us this morning," they said at the same time, but got the same look as the one he gave Toby.

"I didn't go to the fucking_ store_ today, who the hell told you that?" The three men sweat dropped and looked at each other, before turning to Itachi, who had clearly already figured it out, but was in disbelief of his underlings stupidity.

"Are you telling me, that a twenty year old woman with two broken arms, two broken legs, and no chakra who hasn't really eaten a decent meal in three weeks made a henge of Kisame and walked out the front door in front of four S-rank missing-nin?"

His voice was deathly quiet and calm, but his already-angry chakra took a whole other level, feeling the same way Naruto's did when he released some of the demon's chakra to mix with his own.

"All of you, go, _find her and bring her back_." Four black blurs sped out of the base at the same time, each wanting to get as far away from their leader as they could, fearful of his wrath.

"Sakura-san," Itachi spoke her name and then he too disappeared, determined to bring her back, possibly for more reasons than one.

* * *

><p>Sakura, still disguised as Kisame, bolted through the trees at a blinding speed. She had a lot of time on the Akatsuki, but the moment Itachi discovered what had happened he was sure to be after her with a vengeance, to bring her back to The Cell. The rosette inwardly flinched. For all her big talk when she was in the room, she would do anything to make sure she never went back.<p>

_Anything but betray my village, that is._

There was no resting with this jutsu she had put over herself, because the moment it wore out she would be reverted back to her crippled and utterly useless state. It only lasted twenty-four hours, a long time in some cases, but not in hers, the base where she had been held was at least three days away.

The jutsu she had used didn't exactly have a name, because it didn't technically exist. It was a combination of Tsunade's Seal of Rebirth, the diamond that constantly gathered chakra on her forehead, and Sakura's own self-created medical jutsu.

Sakura kept a diamond seal on her body as well, behind her right ear, so it would be less visible, since everyone who knew Tsunade and her apprentice would know immediately what it was. The seal gathered any unnecessary chakra at the end of each day and sealed it within itself, and every night she could, Sakura pushed healing chakra into the seal as well.

When the seal was activated the users most hindering injuries would be temporarily healed, and they would be granted all the chakra that had been stored over however long since the last activation. It was used as a last resort because of the physical toll it took after it wore off. Sakura was going to have all her broken bones back, and in addition to that she would feel the same as if she had used all that chakra without having it stored beforehand.

The technique itself was great when in a danger such as Sakura was. The sudden rush of chakra easily snapped through Itachi's inhibiting bracelet and she was able to complete the second part of the jutsu, one that she tacked onto the end, "just in case," and it was a good thing that she had.

The henge was the same basic idea as any other but in a much more complex form. The wielder would be able to henge like anyone they wanted, down to the voice and chakra signature, but it took complete concentration, so whoever used it would not be able to fight while doing so.

_I've got to get Naruto to come to me_, Sakura thought and formed the correct hand sequence to call a miniature Katsuyu, momentarily dropping her henge. A poof of smoke appeared on her shoulder and Sakura felt the familiar weight of the slug on her body.

"Sakura-Hime!" The slug exclaimed happily, obviously aware that she had been missing for quite some time, taken by the Akatsuki, "You're okay! We were so worried-"

"Sorry Katsuyu, I'm not out of the woods yet, they're after me, I had to use the jutsu Tsunade-sama and I worked out but the second it ends I'm going to be completely useless."

The slug nodded her understanding, having been in many situations like this before, on the run with Tsunade in the Great Shinobi War.

"I need you to reverse-summon yourself to Tsunade-sama and tell her and Naruto my coordinates, I can't make it home without them, I have a feeling the Akatsuki are catching up faster than I had expected."

"Got it!" The slug said and left without a parting, knowing that those extra few seconds could mean life and death for her Slug Princess' apprentice.

* * *

><p>Deidara couldn't believe how angry Itachi had been when he discovered the missing medic. He'd never felt such an ominous chakra roll off of him, he was normally scary enough with just a look.<p>

_Damn prick, we could just get a new medic, yeah,_ the arsonist grumbled to himself, but at the same time he understood where Itachi was coming from. If the mouths on his hands and chest were slowly becoming less and less useful the more he used them, he would do whatever it took to find a medic to fix them as well. Itachi's eyes, like his hands, were the weapon he had been relaying on his whole life, and not only that, but without them he would be thrust into eternal blindness, an almost sure way to put any shinobi, no matter how good, out of commission.

"Still doesn't give him a right to be such a dickhead though, eh Toby?" He turned to where his partner had been previously running, and found no one there, "Ah shit, are you kidding me? I'm not a babysitter Toby! Yeah!" He yelled into the trees, angry that the man-child had run off again, they were on a _mission_ for Christ's sake!

"Tch, whatever, Itachi will deal with him later. I'll be the first one to find the medic," Deidara said out loud and started molding a clay bird for one. Now that there wasn't a second body to hold him back, he could use it to cover more distance faster.

"At least if we get the medic back, she'll be staying with us for a while," the bombing expert said and climbed aboard the bird. _She'll be a very nice distraction from the rest of the members, yeah, _he thought with glee.

* * *

><p>Surprisingly enough, it was Toby that had caught up to Sakura first. Itachi was by far the fastest man in the organization on his own, but when Toby used his ability to warp through space, well he wasn't much of a match for anyone.<p>

"Pretty lady!" He called out to the woman in front of him, who was just finishing up a conversation with a slug, "Sakuraaaa-chan!" He yelled, much closer this time, and saw the slug poof away.

"T-Toby!" Her henge was still dropped from having to summon Katsuyu, how had the idiot of Akatsuki catch up to her so fast?

"Sakura-chan!" His voice sounded eerily like Naruto's had when he was just starting out in the Academy.

_Think fast, _Sakura thought to herself_, he's dangerous, but without a partner he's not that bright. Think like a nine year old._

"Toby-kun!" She called out in false excitement, secretly praying that this plan wasn't going to take too much time. It had been almost twenty hours now, and Sakura had made quite a bit of progress. She was only a day away from the Konoha gates, thanks to her jutsu's side effects. The almost limitless amount of chakra that was at her fingertips combined with not being able to feel fatigue until the jutsu was dropped pushed her through the night and well into the next day. She didn't have to stop to rest once, and that had been immensely helpful. Now that Naruto was surly coming for her she was getting giddy, _This might actually work!_

"Hime-chan!" The man called out, waving his hands as he caught up to her. She was still running for Konoha, but not as fast as before, she didn't want him to think she was running from him "I found you! No one knew where you were and everyones looking for you 'cause Itachi-kun was really mad and he made swirly chakra go everywhere and it scared me so I ran with Deidara-sempai but he was slow so I went ahead and I followed you and I _found you! _Itachi-kun said to bring you back right now but you're still going the wrong way, did you get lost?"

Sakura just started at him, almost missing a branch, and stumbled for a second, how did one talk that much that fast? She could practically see the run-on sentence as it came out of his mouth!

"Uh," she started, still unable to respond to him, "Didn't anyone tell you?" Sakura asked in a childish voice, to which he shook his head back and forth violently, "Awh! They didn't tell you the rules and you _still_ won? That's no fair!" The seasoned medic whined, balling her fists up like a child.

"TOBY WON!" The man shouted with glee, scaring some birds that were nesting near them, "TOBY WON THE GAME? TOBY IS A GOOD BOY!" He stopped running and did a little cheer before catching back up with the rosette. "What did Toby win?"

Sakura widened her eyes a little, "Why, hide-and-seek of course!" The whole way to the base Kisame had been telling Sakura about how annoying Toby was, and how he constantly wanted to plan games, somehow roping the other members into playing them almost every day. She had stored this little bit of information and now she was glad she did, manipulating the orange masked-man beside her.

"Everyone knew how bored you were, so they got together and decided to plan a massive game of hide-and-seek, you were _it!_" she almost felt bad, seeing how giddy the man was, but she would take a little bit of guilt over going back to The Cell any day. "So now you know what you gotta do, right Toby?" She sang in a falsetto tone.

"N-no, what? What do I have to do!"

"Here!" Sakura jumped off the tall branch, landing as graceful as a cat on the ground, "I'll show you!"

She brought him to a big tree and, with her fists, hollowed out the bottom, creating a deep dark hole, big enough for a man.

"You gotta hide, 'cause now the other members are "it"!" She pointed to the hole and he quickly crawled in.

"Are you sure Sakura-chan?"

"Positive!" she assured him, "but you gotta mask your chakra, okay? And don't make a sound!" He giggled but gave her the "OK" sign. "I'm gonna go hide now too, see you later Toby-kun!" She felt him mask his chakra, though she could still feel it because he was too excited to do so properly.

_Whatever, it works,_ she thought and made another perfect henge, this time, of Toby. _Nobody's gonna find him for a while, I'll just use his form!_

* * *

><p>Three hours later, Deidara walked through the woods, knowing he recognized the chakra hiding under the hallowed out roots of the tree in front of him. It was either poorly masked, or the kunoichi had mortally wounded the boy and left him for dead, because it was only coming out in weak streams.<p>

He slowly walked up and around the tree, not wanting to peer in. Sure, the kid was annoying, but did he really want him dead? Probably brutally mutilated with some sort of medical jutsu? Deidara cringed at the thought. Limbs littering the ground, blood soaking his body, a giant gaping hole in his chest? The arsonist almost turned around and just walked away, until he heard a small voice.

"T-toby?" he called into the dark crevice, "You in there, yeah?" The voice immediately stopped, but he could have sworn he heard muffled snickering. "Come out of there Toby!" He yelled, still half expecting him to be dragging his body on the ground, beaten.

"Awwwh!" Toby's unmistakeable voice yelled, before he came crawling out of the tree's base, totally unscathed, "You found me!"

Deidara turned red, "What the fuck do you mean "you found me" yeah! We're not looking for you, _we're looking for the medic!" _But Toby just wagged his finger back and fourth,

"Nope! IIIII found the medic, because I won the game! So now it was Toby's turn to hide!" He cried out in glee.

The blond-haired man stilled, "What game are you talking about, yeah?"

"Hide-and-seek of course! I found Sakura-chan so she told me it was my turn to hide!" The man pranced around, totally missing the look of pure disbelief. Toby had found the medic, and she had convinced him it was a game, and _to hide under a tree for hours?_

_What a conniving bitch! _Deidara face-palmed and looked to the idiot still dancing.

"Itachi's going to fucking kill us, yeah."

* * *

><p>Kisame was getting tired of searching for the medic, but there was no chance in hell that he was going to challenge Itachi's authority, his shoulder still wasn't healed properly from the first, and last, time he did so.<p>

"Dammit Pinky!" he cursed, "We're gonna find you and drag you back anyways, why make us go through this whole fuss!" Though he had to admit that she made a startling amount of progress from the base to Konoha.

The blue man ran and tried to cover as much land as he could, his Samehada sniffing for familiar chakra. Suddenly, the sword pulled him to the left, and out of the woods came Toby.

"Eh? Toby?" The shark man stopped a few yards in front of him.

The ninja froze before giving a childish wave, "Fishy-kun!" he called out, "Hi! Toby is still looking for Sakura-chan!" Kisame scoffed, _Yeah, like he's gonna be any help._

"Good job, have you gotten any closer to finding her yet?" He asked, grateful for the break from running. This could still be classified as "looking for Sakura" right? If they were sharing information?

"No," Toby looked down and kicked a rock, before sending a nervous look in the direction he had been heading, "I haven't seen her anywhere."

The Mist Nukenin sighed, adjusting the giant wrapped sword on his back, "Me neither. How the hell did you guys let her get away so easily? The henge couldn't have been _that_ good, are the three of you stupid or something?" He ranted, disgusted that their idiocy put him in this situation, "I mean, what kind of ninja doesn't notice when a henge is right in front of them?"

Toby let out a sudden onslaught of giggles, before clutching his sides in full-blown laughter. Kisame looked at the man in front of him, not sure if he should be confused or angry.

"You alright Toby?" He finally asked, giving a nervous laugh, _He's crazier that we thought, maybe I should just leave..._

"Yes, I'm fine, you're right, only an idiot wouldn't notice a henge right in front of them." He spoke in a surprisingly intelligent sentence. Kisame was about to respond when he felt the familiar powerful chakra of his partner approach.

"Kisame," an iron voice called out his name. Kisame turned around and saw Itachi looking at the two of them with fire in his eyes, anger pulsated off him in waves. By his side, Kisame could see Toby still completely, rare for the boy. "What do you think you're doing?" He asked, but before Kisame could explain he saw Toby dart away, lightning fast and Itachi disappeared, giving chase.

"What the hell!" The blue man shouted and followed close behind his partner. Toby was running at a blinding speed, faster than he'd ever seen him run before, without the use of his space-jumping jutsu.

"Stay the fuck away from me, Uchiha!" Toby called over his shoulder in a completely uncharacteristic display, and suddenly a light went on in Kisame's head. He threw a kunai directly at his back, and the second he turned around to block it, the henge dropped, revealing the medic.

No sound was made by the Uchiha prodigy in front of him, but Kisame let out a loud noise of surprise and amusement. Itachi had obviously seen through her henge with his perfected eyes, explaining why he was so angry to see them two of them talking in the clearing before.

_But I didn't notice a single difference from him! Her voice, body and chakra were all that of Toby! Not only that, but how did she heal herself? Her chakra was nil, and from what the others said, Itachi really went all out while he was torturing her. Where had this power come from? _And then, _Awh shit, and I said all of that stupid stuff about only idiots not being able to see a henge right in front of them. She's never gonna let that one go!_

Regardless of how fast they were already going, Itachi and the medic seemed to pick up even more speed, moving at an alarming rate almost desperately.

Then, Kisame felt it to, the reason why they were going as fast as they were, Sakura to get to what was heading their way, and Itachi to stop her. A massive, enraged chakra was mere miles away, and closing in fast. The nine-tails was here to save his teammate.

"Naruto!" He heard the woman call out, whatever jutsu she had used to heal herself was obviously waning, he could see her wince with every step she took.

Itachi could see it too, he didn't understand how she had escaped his bracelet, or where the chakra had come from, but he had a feeling it had something to do with the diamond shaped seal he could barley make out behind her ear. He was so close, only nine or so yards away from her long, silky pink hair. Hair that he had, only yesterday, washed as meticulously as he would his own.

He could feel Naruto heading his way with the power and speed that only came with being the nine tails Jinchuuriki. His Sharingan eyes narrowed with anger, the man was almost upon them, and he could feel a massive amount of ANBU reinforcements not too far behind.

* * *

><p>Naruto took another step, smashing into the ground and creating a small crater in the wake of his running. Sakura was just ahead, he could feel her chakra, though it was blinking dangerously. Less than a mile to go, he would make it.<p>

ANBU were close behind him, almost thirty of them, he had demanded only the best of the best for Sakura, and Tsunade hadn't put up any fight at all, wanting her student safe as much as he did. Some of their closest friends who had made ANBU came along, each one of them desperate to retrieve their close friend and willing to go up against the whole of Akatsuki to do so.

Suddenly, he could see a pink dot running to him at full speed, "SAKURA-CHAN!" He shouted and went even faster if possible. Itachi was right on her tail, with Kisame following quickly behind. Anger surged up in him at the sight of the men who took his Sakura away, but he tried to squish it back down. The second she was in his arms, he would take off for Konoha. As much as he wanted to kick their asses, his first priority was getting her safe.

He saw the relief on her face a second before she collapsed in mid-air, visible green chakra leaving her and revealing a body so broken and mutilated it was a wonder she was even alive at all. White-hot rage poured out of the demon boy as he scooped the delicate female up into his arms gently before she could hit the hard earth.

Itachi and Kisame stopped where they were, maybe fifteen feet away from the pair. Kisame's eyes were widened at shock, staring at Sakura's abused unconscious form, before looking at Itachi with a mildly angry expression. However the Uchiha looked as stoic as ever, only angering Naruto more. Naruto looked down at his little teammate, he could see her cut up and bruised face, the bones jutting out of her arms, and her broken fingers. Foreign and too large clothes covered the rest of her body but he could only assume it looked the same or worse as the skin he could see.

Itachi saw the boy assessing his friend, and his own eyes flickered to her face. If possible, the damage he had done looked even worse in the sunlight, in comparison to the light from his room. The clothes he had dressed her in only made her look tinier and more delicate than she was. A pang of guilt sounded in his head.

"You'll pay for what you did to her," Naruto said, bringing her body closer to his own in a protective stance. His voice wasn't just his own, but Kurama's as well, who had taken a strong liking to the pink-haired vixen that was able to keep Naruto in line. "Nobody hurts Sakura-chan."

* * *

><p>Itachi looked at the sight before him, Naruto clutching Sakura, her limp body being protected and covered by his masculine one, it struck a raw nerve inside him. He could feel the massive army closing in on them, and made a quick decision to retreat. Though he and Kisame had defeated larger numbers of ANBU before, it still took a long while and they left the battle very injured. This one was lead by the famous Nine-tails, and the Akatsuki men had been running for a full day after the woman. Retreating was the only decision right now; he would be back for her though.<p>

Seeing Sakura drowning in his pajamas, asleep and curled up warm and safe in another man's arms, even if they were the arms of her best childhood friend, set Itachi's heart ablaze with fierce jealousy; it was unacceptable. He had given up everything for Konoha, his name, his position, his home, his respect, his _family._ And now there was a girl, a woman, wearing the Uchiha crest on the back of her six-sizes-too-large shirt, _his _shirt, and she too was being taken away from him, to be returned to _Konoha._ It was unacceptable.

It took only a second for the prodigy to finally understand the feelings that had been dubiously dropped on him these past few weeks with the rosy lipped kunoichi, and what they meant. He was going to be selfish for once; he had given Konoha everything that was rightfully his, and now, Konoha was going to give him one of their most loved and cherished people, so she in turn could give him everything back that he had lost.

_Acceptance. Respect. A home. A title. Love. _

_A family. _

Right then and there Uchiha Itachi decided that he would have her, she would belong to him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Now don't you worry yourself, dear readers, Sakura hasn't escaped from Itachi yet! He would never allow anyone to make him the fool. It's only a matter of time before they're reunited again...**

****Thank you again, XO!**  
>Vera<strong>

"Life won't wait,"  
>-Ozzy Osbourne<p> 


	4. Stalking

**Since the dawn of time the Uchiha have put friends and enemies alike under a spell with their Sharingan. But what happens when a certain medic unknowingly puts the Uchiha prodigy under a spell with her own mesmerizing eyes? "I will have her," he said possessively, "She's mine."**

**ItachixSakura**

**Rated M**

**A/N: Hi everyone! Vera here with another chapter for you! I'm sorry in advance, for two reasons however. The first for how long it is, it's not exactly a short chapter, but it is the shortest one so far. The second reason I have to apologize, is because this is sort of a filler chapter -_- I know, I know, everyone hates those, but it needed to be done. There's quite a bit of important information and it really sets up nicely for the next chapter coming your way! Hope you like it all the same :)**

**Cherry Weasel**

**Stalking**

Two weeks after being rescued almost all of Sakura's injuries had been healed. Her back and shoulders still caused her discomfort, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle with the grace that came naturally to her. She had been healed by the second best medic in the Five Shinobi Nations after all, her mentor, Tsunade.

Sakura allowed herself a small, pride-filled smile at the thought. At twenty she had completely overtaken her master, who was decades older than her. Healing came as naturally to her as destruction, she was her own personal Yin and Yang.

The green-eyed beauty walked through the market at a languid speed, just enjoying the open air and warm sun on her body. This was one of her favorite past-times, picking up fresh food from the open stalls around her village. Call it what you will, but something about the process was relaxing.

"Ohayo, Sakura-chan!" An elderly woman with short gray hair called out from her fruit stall. Sakura walked toward, hand raised and face set into an easy smile.

"Hello Kato-san!" She greeted in return, "How are you?"

"Mah, Sakura-chan, call me Ami! How many times do I have to tell you that?" She admonished warmly, "Your mother and I were friends since our diaper days."

"Ami-san then," Sakura said, still intent on keeping the respectful "san" on the end. The woman looked satisfied and gave her a little nod, before helping another one of her customers. They both knew the next time she came to visit, they'd have the same talk over and over again. It wasn't in Sakura's nature to address an elder so personally, she was raised to be respectful by her old-fashioned parents.

Green eyes looked down sadly, at the thought of her parents. They had died in Orochimaru's attack on the village the first time she tried out for her Chunin exams. As long ago as it was, a girl never got used to the thought of losing her parents so young. A little sigh crept past her lips, before she straightened up, squaring her shoulders. They wouldn't want her to live in the past.

"Sakuraaaaa-chan," a whiney voice called behind her, "are you almost done yet? I'm so borrrred!" Sakura's forehead pounded, having forgotten her escorts for a few blissful minutes.

"Baka!" She shouted, turning around to address one of her two teammates following her close, "you're the one that insists to follow me everywhere I go! I can shop for food by myself, nothings going to happen!" She boinked the boy on his gleaming blond head with a loaf of bread she had bought earlier.

"But what if something happens to you!" He yelled back, "I'm not letting anyone take you away ever again!" Her grabbed her in a fierce bear hug, eyes shifting comically, as if assessing every civilian for evil intent.

"It's not as if you could do anything anyways, Dickless," Sai, their previously silent teammate, said with a fake smile, "You didn't do anything to help her until the last second." Naruto released Sakura and got into his other teammate's face.

"I'm not Dickless, Teme!" Villagers stop and sweat-dropped at the display, not that it wasn't out of the ordinary, there was always some form of commotion when the Number One Knucklehead was involved.

"Sai! Naruto!" Sakura screamed, dropping her bags and lifting both of the men by the collar of their shirts, "I'm trying to have a peaceful time before going to work! Now if you're going to insist on following me everywhere I go, then do so quietly! It's your fault I'm food shopping anyways, you eat everything at my house!" The woman was pink in the face and the villagers that had been previously gawking ran away, fearing her legendary temper.

"S-Sakura-chan," Naruto stuttered out, already wincing.

"What's wrong, Ugly? Your face looks worse than usual," Sai commented in a mild voice. The Leaf kunoichi put her blond friend down and instead focused all of her attention on the black-haired artist.

"You wanna fuck with me right now, Sai!" She raised her voice, her face so close to his their noses almost touched.

The boy took a point from one of the emotion books he always read, "Is this when we kiss?" Sakura let out a noise of frustration and dropped the man, stomping off toward her apartment.

Naruto turned and looked at the man beside him, "Why do you always get us in trouble with Sakura-chan you Teme? She's gonna kick our asses later thanks to you!" The pair picked up her forgotten bags and followed the woman who was still letting her anger out on the poor ground with each one of her steps.

_Assholes won't let me do anything on my own. Won't let me go to the hospital by myself, won't let me shop for myself, hell, they won't even let me live by myself! _She grumbled in her head, thinking about how, for the last two weeks, the men had been living in her apartment with her.

So lost in her own thoughts, Sakura didn't hear the little girl's cries until she was almost standing next to her. A child of no more than five was crying on the ground, face in the dry, dusty road on her stomach.

"Waaaah!" Tears bubbled down her cheeks and Sakura immediately walked toward her and sat criss-cross applesauce on the dirty ground.

"Eh? Kiko-chan?" Sakura said, recognizing the girl, "What happened?" She picked the still crying child up and placed her on one of her crossed legs.

"H-Hime-sama!" The blond-haired child cried, her high pigtails waving in the air, "I-I was running with my frieeends and I fell and they didn't wait-t for mee!" She hiccuped and latched her arms around the older woman's neck, crying into her ample chest. Sakura cooed and rubbed her back soothingly, wrapping her other arm around the child bringing her closer in a hug.

"There, there Kiko-chan, where does it hurt? Let me see it," the woman said softly, tenderness evident in her eyes. The girl pulled away for a second, her big, green eyes still welled up with tears. Kiko sniffed before pointing at her right elbow, palm, and left knee, all which were skinned and had tiny pebbles caught in them.

"My," the rosetta said, "Looks like you had some fall didn't you?" Little Kiko just nodded, before starting to sob again, "Don't worry sweetie, we'll get that patched up in no time!" The woman said cheerfully and sat the girl in between her knees facing her, her hands glowing green with soothing chakra.

"This won't hurt a bit!"

The little girl gave a wobbly smile, "I know, I remember from last time." Of course she was referring to one of the many times Sakura had found her in this position before, and healed her minor cuts or bruises.

Sakura started from her palm to her elbow, ending at her knee. The entire process took maybe thirty seconds, and the girl gave her a real smile by the end of it.

"Thank you Hime-sama!" She cried, happily this time, and tacked the med-nin in the biggest hug her small body could supply.

Right then Naruto and Sai caught up to her, their hands filled with bags and properly chastised looks on their faces, well, on Naruto's at least.

"Hey guys," Sakura said happily, still hugging the small girl who looked perfectly content.

"We got your groceries Hag," Sai said, Naruto flashing him a look of despair. But Sakura just laughed her bell-like laugh and stood up, bringing Kiko with her.

"Thank you," she looked at each of them, "And I'm sorry for blowing up like that," she looked a little pink with embarrassment, "I'm still pissed at myself for letting myself be kidnapped, I overreacted and took it out on you, so I'm sorry."

Naruto gave her a wide grin and set the bags down, hugging her and Kiko too, in the process, "Of course we forgive you Sakura-chan!"

* * *

><p>Itachi looked at the scene before him, once again utilizing the scope modeled after Deidara's. He was on a rooftop quite a distance away, just watching the trio, he had been all day. For two weeks, in fact.<p>

Itachi never left with Akatsuki when they retreated, instead telling Kisame he was going on an extended intelligence mission and putting him in charge until he came back. Then he followed the ninja back to Konoha, and had resided there ever since, just waiting for his chance to take the medic again.

His perfectly masked chakra and years of stealth really paid off, because he hadn't run into trouble once. Just in case though, he used the same sort of henge that Sakura had, having copied it with his Sharingan. He looked like an average-non discript ninja just enjoying the view of the village.

Sakura looked so peaceful walking around the market, picking up food and observing it with a keen eye for quality. She was continuously greeted by the villagers, ninja and civilian alike, and it only strengthened Itachi's desire to take someone so precious to them away for himself.

When he saw her tranquil face break and turn red, he could only assume that one of her ever present shadows had said something stupid. He was much too far away to head, but using his Sharingan he could read her lips, her full, pink lips, and chuckled, of course it was Naruto's fault.

The golden-haired man grabbed her, for what must be the seventeenth time that day, and looked around shiftily. Itachi felt a tang of anger, seeing another man touch her, but didn't act upon it. Naruto was a touchy-feely guy when it came to his best friend, _Always has been_, he thought, if he remembered correctly.

Moments later his blossom had both of her teammates in the air by their collars, her short stature belittled by their taller more muscular ones. And yet, she kept them hanging in the air, before turning her attention to the black-hair replacement for his younger brother and stomping off in a fit of fury.

Itachi decided he liked that colour red on her face, the scowl that only seemed to enhance her already beautiful features. The men scrambled for her bags before following behind at a safe distance, for fear of her wrath.

The woman was so expressive outside of her missions. Itachi had seen some of her emotions the first time they kidnapped her, but not like this. Sure, she joked around a little with Kisame, and had obviously acted childish when she tricked Toby, which he heard about right before leaving on his "intelligence" mission.

_Stupid, useless, regrettable waste of a man._ He thought to himself, what S-ranked ninja let a target go and only to hide in a tree because she convinced him it was a game of hide-and-seek? Itachi shook his head, irritated.

Looking back up he saw the jade-eyed beauty's look of rage melt to one of tender worry, her eyes on a fallen girl. Without hesitation she sat down on the ground and pulled the girl into her lap, consoling her. He watched the girl's sobbing face look at Sakura's and show her some small cuts she got from falling.

_Let her tough it out, _Itachi thought, _she won't grow stronger if you baby her like that._ But Sakura took on a motherly face and her hands glowed green, healing the child in an instant. The Uchiha could see the girls sobs stop and a smile as bright as the sun replace it, before she tackled her savior.

"Thank you Hime-sama!" The girl's voice was so loud it carried all the way to where Itachi was sitting.

"Hime-sama?" He heard himself say, _What a weird thing to call her._

Naruto and their other partner walked up to the woman still sitting on the ground and greeted her timidly, but apparently the small girl, whose eyes looked eerily like Sakura's, Itachi noticed, had erased any anger she had been feeling, because she smiled at the men before her.

Itachi could read her lips, read how she apologized for taking her anger at being kidnapped out on them, and they forgave her in an instant. He tensed as he watched Naruto put his bags down, undoubtedly going in for another hug. His red eyes narrowed in anger and jealousy at the picture before him when the man's arms wrapped easily around his woman and the girl still nestled in her arms.

With green eyes the same shade as the rosette's, and hair as bright and blond as Naruto's, they looked like a happy little family. The way they both looked down at the child, who smiled up happily at them, how it didn't seem like anything else mattered in the world but their embrace.

Then Sakura did something inexcusable, she extended herself on his toes just a hint, her long legs looking leaner than before as she did so, and presses a quick, chaste kiss to her friend's cheek, who promptly turned pink.

Itachi's chakra flared, bloodlust and killing intent rolling off of him in waves for a moment, before he regained control over himself.

_She will be the death of me,_ he thought angrily, mourning the loss of the tight control he had been able to keep on his emotions for years and years, before he met her. _Soon she will kiss no one but me._

* * *

><p>A second after pressing her lips to Naruto's cheek, as she had done hundreds of times before when thanking him, she felt an ominous chakra come from everywhere, and could smell dense anger from one of the rooftops. Her arms on the child pressed against her tightened protectively, emerald orbs narrowing dangerously, looking for whoever was creating such a murderous energy.<p>

But as quickly as the feeling came, it left. Naruto and Sai looked none the wiser, neither one of them suspecting a thing. Her perfect chakra control allowed her to sense others much quicker, but seeing as it was already gone, she chalked it up to a small fight somewhere nearby.

_Something about it felt so familiar though..._

"Hime-sama?" An innocent voice tore through her thoughts and Sakura turned brightly to the girl she had transferred to her hip.

"Yes Kiko-chan?"

"Will you bring me home? I don't wanna play outside anymore, it's getting dark." And indeed it was, Sakura hadn't noticed the sun start to go down, and even though it was still light out, night came fast in Konoha.

"Of course honey," she said, it wasn't the first time she would take the child home.

"Naruto, Sai?" The medic turned to her friends, "I'm going to take Kiko-chan here home, will you get the groceries and meet me back at the apartment?" She turned on her heel before either one of them, _Naruto_, could refuse. She would be fine on her own. Readjusting the small child on her hip, she gave her a smile and asked how her day had been. For the next twenty or so minutes the girl chatted her ear off, happy, bubbly words rolling off her tongue.

* * *

><p>He knew Sakura felt his chakra spike from the way she pulled the child closer to her and her mesmerizing eyes narrowed. He had forgotten her perfect chakra control, one of the qualities he had read about her in the Bingo Book. But within the walls of Konoha she was too trusting, and passed it off almost as quickly as she picked up on it, before saying some parting words to her friends and heading down a road she hadn't gone yet these two weeks he had been following her.<p>

The girl was perched on her cocked out hip, chatting away happily, and Sakura seemed genuinely interested, replying every so often. The blond child waved her hands around wildly, eyes wide, telling a story as Sakura brought her, he presumed, home.

The well seasoned ninja followed the girls relatively close behind, watching and hoping for an opening, but even though it was getting dark there were still quite a few people on the streets.

Itachi watched as the girl on Sakura's hip yawned a giant yawn and rubbed her eyes before going on, chatting still but at a much slower pace. She poked Sakura and then motioned to her back, and the pink-haired woman smiled warmly, moving her so she was giving her a piggyback.

Only minutes later the tiny child was asleep, bringing a wave of nostalgia over Itachi. _Sasuke used to fall asleep that way too._

Itachi would always have to carry his little brother home those rare times they trained together, the boy could never stay awake for long while riding on his brother's back, the same seemed to be true of this girl.

* * *

><p>Sakura walked on in silence, seemingly carefree but still alert. Kiko had asked for a piggy back ride, but she knew only minutes after latching on, she had fallen asleep. Luckily they were almost to her house, that way she could have an actual rest, as it was getting much, much darker.<p>

Sakura tapped on the Saito's door with her foot, having her hands full carrying Kiko. A classically pretty woman opened the door for her, her face softening at the sight of Sakura with her daughter on her back.

"Ah, Sannin-Hime, did my daughter hurt herself again?" She opened the door wider and let the two of them in, before closing it again.

"She had a little fall, and please, it's Sakura," the exotic woman insisted.

The older woman gave warm but firm shake of her head, "Not after all you've done for this village and my family it's not, you will always be our Sannin-Hime."

The woman was referring not only her position at the hospital, ANBU status (Naruto hadn't kept that secret for long, luckily though no one knew _which_ ANBU she was) and little favors she did for Kiko, but for the time she saved the woman's husband's life.

"I keep telling you," Sakura said with a blush, "it's my job, anyone would have done it."

"Yes, maybe, but would anyone have stuck by him way past her shift ended to make sure he was comfortable? Or sneak his daughter into the ICU to cheer them both up?" Sakura laughed at the memory. She had literally _snuck_ the girl in, using a henge and everything.

"It's possible."

The woman had a short, pleasant conversation before Sakura declined staying for dinner, insisting that she had to leave to cook for two friends at her house. She left the house and walked into the night with a smile on her face.

* * *

><p>Itachi could see his chance when she left the house about a half an hour later. It was dark, the streets were deserted, and she was alone. He gave her a few minutes to get out of sight of the house she had just dropped the girl off at, in case they were watching her leave.<p>

He crept along the rooftops coming closer and closer to her until he was even with her walking on the ground. _Only a few more seconds..._

But then, life intervened, as he should have known it would. It was too easy, and now his chance had been lost, because who should appear but one of the only men that had the ability to make Itachi change his mind about the timing. Kakashi Hatake.

* * *

><p>"Oi, Sakura-chan," Her sensei, <em>ex<em>-sensei as he liked to remind her, poofed next to her, nose buried in his little orange book.

"Hi Kaka-sensei," Sakura teased, "What brings you to this neck of the woods?"

"Oh, you know, just taking in all the wonders life has to offer."

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "You're totally using me as an excuse to be late for something, aren't you?" He crinkled his one visible eyes, facing her while they walked.

"Would I ever do that to my favorite student?" He asked, when the tone of his voice held the obvious answer.

"Well if that's the case then you can walk me home," Sakura said, changing their direction.

"You afraid of the dark?" He teased.

"No, but I left Naruto and Sai at my apartment waiting for dinner. So either the place is torn apart in fits of hunger, or burned down because they tried to make it. Either way I might want some assistance." She smiled brightly and Kakashi sweat-dropped. She was so calm when talking about the destruction of her home.

* * *

><p>Indeed, her house was a mess when she got there. One look inside and Kakashi poofed away so fast it left her head spinning.<p>

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled, widening his stance and raising his arms, trying to cover the mess they had made out of her kitchen, "I-it's not what it looks like! We were gonna surprise you with dinner, but..." his voice trailed off and he took another look at what was behind him, wincing.

"Well..." Sakura replied, "I'm surprised alright."

Her small kitchen was covered in food. Some of it were still in the shopping bags, while others were in the process of being put away and chopped up for dinner. But the men had obviously gotten distracted because fruit littered the floor, as if on it's way to the fruit bowl, and there were various cans on chairs and the table, some of them were stacked into a pyramid.

There were about five pans out, each one of them containing a "stir-fry" and two pots of "soup" sitting near them. Naruto had tried to get fancy with his instant-ramen by adding to it by himself, and it obviously hadn't worked out the way he expected. Sai was at the kitchen counter, shirtless, cutting up tomatoes. You would think that a ninja could cut something right, but apparently not, because they were completely squished, his torso was coated in the red seeds. His black shirt lay on the ground near the can pyramid, so it wouldn't get ruined.

"I find it hard to believe that neither one of you have girlfriends," Sakura said sarcastically, before shooing them out of her kitchen, "Come back in half an hour, I'll make something out of this..." She turned around for another look at the mess behind her, "Or we'll just order take-out."

* * *

><p>In the end, they did order take-out, from Ichiraku's, surprise surprise. Sakura decided it wasn't worth it to clean up, somehow cook what the boys had prepared, and clean again. Between the three of them and five Naruto clones they had the kitchen looking how she normally kept it, and they went to the living room so the food could digest.<p>

"Sakura-chan! It hurts!" The twenty year old grumbled, rolling on the floor and holding his stomach.

"Well that's what you get," his friend replied, snuggled up on the couch watching _The Silence of the Lambs_ with Sai, well, sort of. He was drawing. "I told you not to eat that much, but noo ten bowls of ramen is the perfect amount!" She shot the man a look, letting him wallow in self-pity before sighing and getting up. It wasn't in her nature as a medic, or his friend, to watch as someone rolled around in pain, even if it was his own fault to begin with.

Her hands glowed as she knelt down and she lifted his orange shirt, pressing her dainty ivory hands to his golden skin, minimizing the pain and leaving him with a relieved look on his face.

"What would I do without you?"

"Phz, please, if I weren't here, you would have died a lonng time ago, Naru-kun." She called him by her nickname for him and smiled. As stupid as he was sometimes, no one made her happier. He was her teammate, her best friend, her soul's brother. Naruto was just about everything to her.

"Alright," she said, standing from her position on the floor, "I'm going to bed. I'll see you guys in the morning, 'kay?"

Naruto nodded and offered her a "goodnight" while Sai just grunted and went back to whatever it was he was drawing. She took one last look at her boys before ascending the stairs to one the apartments two bedrooms.

* * *

><p>Itachi's red eyes slowly faded to his natural onyx, followed by the closing of his eyelids. The kunoichi was back in her apartment with her two protectors. He would not be getting her tonight. He gave an unamused grumble, knowing that, as usual, her two teammates wouldn't be leaving the house tonight. They hadn't for the past two weeks, instead sleeping on the couch and guest bed. The two wouldn't leave her alone for a moment, fearing that she would be taken away from them yet again. Though, they did have a good basis for their fear, considering that a predator had been watching her like his prey for weeks now.<p>

On one hand, staying here pissed him off. The faster he can kidnap her means the faster he can take her to the base, to heal his eyes, and from there...

However, if he was being honest with himself, and he always was, there's no point in lying to one's own person, Itachi was a little happy too. There's something to be said about watching- er, stalking- the person you desire. You get to know their true character inside and out, because they won't hide their emotions or act when they think they're alone.

So really, Itachi didn't lie to Kisame, when he said he was going to gather intellect, because he technically was. Watching Sakura recover from her weeks of torture had been impressive. After an initial healing session from her Hokage, the girl was able to do the rest herself, on and off. A few days of healing and she was out of in patient status, and back to healing.

Itachi found himself amused at how she had reacted when one of the doctors had told her to stay for another week, to monitor her, followed up by a psychiatric analysis. He remembered how her face had reddened in rage and how she had yelled that she was not only a doctor too, but his boss. No one was going to tell Sakura Haruno to "take a break," especially for a mental evaluation. The fiery woman claimed to be fine, and though torturing left emotional scars on even the strongest people, he hadn't seen her falter into depression even once.

Everything about the head medic intrigued the Uchiha man, and as all Uchiha before him, Itachi loved nothing more than a good puzzle. Her actions constantly contradicted each other, and changed at the drop of a hat. Today, for example, she had become passionately enraged at her friends, shouting and picking them up as if they weighed no more than a feather. Mere minutes later she was sitting on the dirty ground with a small child in her lap, compassion written all over her face as she mothered the girl. Truly, there was no human being more complex than she.

But at the same time, she was classically simple. A small gesture, even just a smile from a friend, causes her to brighten the whole room she's standing in. He could tell how much a walk, a good book, or a friendly spar could put her into a good mood for days at a time.

The only woman that had really ever caught Itachi's eye, of course, had to be the most infuriating woman on the earth too. She did these things, as if she was completely unaware, and it drove him crazy. The men he was going to have to watch out for were bad enough, but when you add in those little things she did all the time, Itachi knew he was going to be beating men off of her with a stick.

Those hugs that she gives out freely to everyone she meets, touching their arms, or teasing them. The kisses he spies her giving Naruto. It's as if she doesn't know what she does to people, and maybe, knowing what he knows about her, she doesn't. But any man knows than a single touch from an attractive woman will drive him crazy for days.

Itachi opened his eyes again, looking into her bedroom window. The light was on and the curtains were open, he could see everything perfectly. She was snuggled up in her bed, having already changed in the bathroom, with a book. Her eyes darted from page to page as she absorbed the story. Most of the books she read were by Clive Cussler, adventure stories filled with action and weapons. Itachi had read a few of his books, and knew she favored the ones with the character Dirk Pitt in them.

Hours later, she closed the book, having finished it, and snapped her bedside table's light off. After waiting to make sure she wasn't going to get up again, Itachi snuck stealthily away beyond the gates of Konoha to where he had set up a small camp for the nights.

The man sat by a small fire, having already surrounded the area with an expertly placed genjutsu, so no one would see the flame. He reflected upon these past few weeks, and how more emotional he had become in the short timespan. For years, even before becoming ANBU or turning his back on the village, Itachi had been a man of little to no emotion. The only emotions he allowed himself, were the one of love toward his little brother, and his mother, and even then it was rare that one could tell he even harbored these feelings.

Itachi was not the evil man that everyone liked to paint him as since his betrayal. He was never anything but polite even as a young child, the perfect gentleman and future Clan Leader. But some people couldn't tell the difference between being naturally stoic and being an asshole. His family and his job demanded that he be as emotionless as possible, it was the only way to ensure no irrational actions are taken.

But in just under a month and a half, almost three weeks of torture and the two weeks he had secretly been in Konoha, a certain green-eyed medic had undone what he had spent years perfecting. He was starting to feel again, to make decisions based on his emotions, instead of thinking it through as meticulously as always.

_Here, now, when I'm alone, I'll allow myself to think this way, to react this way, _Itachi told himself, _but as soon as I have her back at the base, I will return to myself. My will is stronger than my emotions._

There was nothing more unnerving to him than the thought of being able to feel and act upon those feelings. The Uchiha Clan had beat it into him since the day he was born, to act a certain way, ANBU had only intensified those beliefs, and after becoming a S-ranked missing-nin, there was no other way to live.

Itachi knew he deserved to be happy, that was easy enough to understand. He had been loyal to his village, giving himself up and become the bad buy for the sake of the greater good. He knew he deserved to have something that was all his, to make him happy, but it was easier said than done.

Happiness simply wasn't allowed, hadn't been at any point in his twenty-six years, so even though Itachi knew he deserved, wanted even, to be happy, he simply didn't know how.

* * *

><p>Viridian eyes opened with the rising sun. The first thing she saw was Naruto's face leaning over hers, completely invading her personal space, the first thing she felt was the ever-present discomfort in her back from her fights with Itachi.<p>

"Morning Naruto," she woman yawned, completely used to waking up this way after spending so many years with the young man. "How are you?"

"I'm great Sakura-chan!" He called, abnormally chipper for what time it was, "How did you sleep?"

The kunoichi piled her long, cascading hair into a pile on top of her head, massaging her scalp, "Well, thank you." She pulled a hair-tie into the mess of hair, holding it up in a bun. "What would you like for breakfast?" She asked, grabbing her medic outfit and walking into the bathroom. She never changed anywhere but the tiny locked room, none of her three teammates know how to knock, and after years of awkward run-ins the woman fixed the situation entirely.

"Actually," Naruto spoke to the white door of her plain bedroom's attached bathroom, "Sai and I got called out on a mission..." He winced in preparation for her anger. Sure enough, she opened the door and glared at him, her light blue scrubs already on.

"And why wasn't I called out for this mission?" She asked, eyes flashing.

"I didn't do it!" His hands held before him defensively, "Tsunade-baa-chan said she didn't want you out yet, she's afraid one of those Akatsuki," He said Akatsuki the same way someone would say genital warts, "guys would try and kidnap you again." His petit teammate stewed, wanting to be angry but seeing her mentor's point.

"I was able to get out," she defended herself, it sucked that after years of training, achieving ANBU status, being named head medic and _defeating_ Sasori of the Red Sand, they still babied her.

"Yes," Naruto agreed, "you were. But not before they tortured you for almost three weeks," he pulled her in for a hug, one she grugendly returned, "Do you know how scary that was for us? For me? I know you're okay now, but seeing you as injured as that was terrifying." His voice was soft and he ran a callused thumb over her cheek.

"How would you feel if it were me?" His last sentence expelled any anger left in her body. It hurt to know she wasn't going on the mission with her team, but she could understand. Sakura Haruno was anything but stupid. She knew the likelihood of another kidnapping attempt, if the Uchiha needed his eyes healed he would stop at nothing to get it done, as would any high ranking ninja.

"Alright," she said, giving her brother a smile, "but you better kick some serious ass for me while you're out! I'm going stir-crazy!" Naruto smiled and gave her a thumbs up.

"You got it Sakura-chan!"

* * *

><p>Sakura walked Naruto, Sai and Kakashi to the gates, insisting on giving them each a hand-made bento for the road. Telling them that even though she knew they'd eat junk on their mission since she wouldn't be able to watch them, she could at least give them something to start off with.<p>

In all honesty, Sakura was glad for the break from the three men walking away. They were always watching over her, but the past two weeks had been especially intense, and it was driving her a little nuts. A girl needed some alone time after all!

Of course, she wouldn't be completely alone. Naruto never said anything, but she knew he would have asked a few people to keep an eye on her while he was away, he always did.

Giving the world a happy smile, Sakura turned back to the village, a happy skip to her step, ready to take on the day.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** **So? What'd you think? Hopefully you liked it even if there wasn't much action. I promise to make up for it next chapter if you'll review for me! :)  
>Hugs to all,<br>Vera**

"Sleep with Rockstars, Support the Arts!"  
>-Bill Kaulitz<p> 


	5. Konoha

**Since the dawn of time the Uchiha have put friends and enemies alike under a spell with their Sharingan. But what happens when a certain medic unknowingly puts the Uchiha prodigy under a spell with her own mesmerizing eyes? "I will have her," he said possessively, "She's mine."**

**ItachixSakura**

**Rated M**

**A/N: Here, for all you lovely readers, is another chapter of _Cherry Weasel!_ This one is extra long to make up for my lack of updates in the past week, over 14,000 words! Things are finally heating up in this chapter, focusing more on Itachi's thoughts and feelings, and I hope you like it! Oh, also, I just realized, thanks to a reviewer, that I've been spelling "Tobi" wrong, and instead writing "Toby." I think it might be my spell-check but I'm not sure so I'll look out for it in the future! **

**Cherry Weasel**

**Konoha**

"Sakura-hime-samaaaaa!" A slow moving genin approached the head medic of Konoha, an enormous smile on her face, "Welcome back!"

"Enoko-chan!" Sakura broke into a light jog, catching the girl and twirling her around happily.

Itachi watched the two girls embrace before breaking apart and walking hand-in-hand to the Inuzuka Clan's main house. The Uchiha dare not get too close once they were safely behind the wooden walls. Those dogs could already smell him, the second he crossed into their territory the nin-dogs were sure to find him and launch an attack.

He narrowed his red eyes in frustration, and looked up at the sunlight above him. It probably wasn't good to stare directly into the yellow orb, but he did so anyways. Whatever damage he did looking at the sun, his medic would soon heal. And if she couldn't, then he wanted to make sure the sun's image was burned into his memory forever.

"Hn," the thought of Sakura being unable to heal his rapidly deteriorating eyes was an unpleasing thought to the man. Even in these past short weeks Itachi's vision had darkened more so than before. It was only by a small increment, but they were adding up. The raven-haired man knew it was only a matter of time before he was blind, he gave himself two months tops.

It was so frustrating, she was so close, he was only a matter of seconds away from the one person who could cure him and yet he had yet to take her. If he were any less of a man, Itachi would have made a half-assed attempt to kidnap the kunoichi out of fear for his impending demise. But, even though his emotions had been coming through as of late, he was still the same Itachi. He would not fear his blindness, not outwardly, he would not act like a fool and mess his only chance up. If he failed, though that was a sliver of a chance given his power, he would not get another opportunity. So, for now, the man just stalked his prey like the predator he was.

Not that he minded much. What started off as a simple need for a medic had turned into something else entirely. The beautiful pinkette had intrigued him, impressed him, puzzled him and enraged him. He wasn't sure where this would lead to in the end, but regardless, until his curiosity had been sated she would be his prize, his property, at the very least, and his happiness at the most. There was so much possibility held in such a small, _appealing_, body.

Itachi rid himself of such thoughts and refocused on the Inuzuka doors. Obviously she was going to be there for a while, given how long she had already been inside. Moving to a higher tree that overlooked the Clan's vast grounds, there were hundreds of barking and fighting dogs everywhere, each one more fierce and dangerous than the last. Safely perched on a tree limb, Itachi got comfortable and pulled out the scope, fitting it over his eye, ready to watch over _Sakura-hime-sama_. He scoffed, having gotten used to how the villagers greeted the blossom. It was "Sakura-hime" this or "Sannin-hime-sama" that. Variations of her name, hime and sama were a constant disturbance in his day. Apparently, in addition to just being well known and loved, the woman was their savior, the strongest kunoichi Konoha had ever breeded as of yet. Actually, it was quite impressive. He knew that Konoha had given birth to many great ninja, himself being one of the best, and it was hard to make those ranks.

Just then, interrupting his musings, he saw the object of his thoughts enter the training grounds. She looked oddly comfortable for someone encroaching on the fierily protective nin-dog's territory. Maybe she didn't know what she had gotten into. Itachi felt a moment of discomfort for the woman, but resigned himself to resting back on the three. If, when, they attacked her, she would be able to heal herself.

* * *

><p>After meeting briefly with the Inuzuka elders, Sakura had asked to visit the nin-dogs outside. Kiba, acting as Clan Head for his training, hadn't batted an eyelash, telling her she knew where they were. The woman had grown to love the dogs, making a point to visit them each time she came by to offer her medical services.<p>

Fresh air hit her almost as fast as the barking did. There were hundreds of them on the expansive land in front of her. The Inuzuka had the most open land out of all the clans, for their dogs alone. They needed a place to run, fight and train to their hearts content. As soon as the pink-haired wonder took a step from the doorway, all the dogs that weren't distracted with play-fighting or training turned her way and paused with a stillness that could only belong to the elite Inuzuka nin-dogs.

Sakura stepped forward confidently and spread her arms open wide, welcoming the animals to her. Like bolts of lightning, they raced to her. Pups the size of a big cat, and dogs much older and bigger than Akamaru bounded toward her getting closer and closer in seconds flat.

"Aiiiiie!" She screamed out in childish delight, grinning so hard it was a wonder her jaw didn't break off right then and there, "Inu-kun!" The woman greeted all the dogs at once. They tackled her to the ground, immediately slobbering all over the kunoichi.

Laughing as pure and innocent as a child's could be heard all over the compound, and the whole clan could immediately tell who was visiting.

"Sannin-hime!" One of the chunin ran up to the pile of barking dogs, fighting to reach the bottom so they could _personally_ greet the medic. "Hime-sama!" He called out again, jumping headfirst into the pile as he'd done a million times before.

"Hokaru-san," she called back, pushing through the mess best she could. Still grinning, she now sported slobbery, messy hair, dirty clothes and about a million paw prints all over her body. "Hi!" she finally reached the teen, "Sorry! I didn't realize you were training, I would have waited for you to finish." Sakura scratched the back of her head, sheepishly. She should have checked to see if anyone was busy before she came and interrupted.

"Nah, it's okay," Hokaru assured her, "Koechi and I were just finishing up anyways, it's nice to see you." He walked to her side and pushed off a medium (for the Inuzuka clan anyway) dog off her, "Hey! Don't forget your manners!" He chastised, albeit none too seriously.

"No, no, Hokaru-san, it's my fault. I came here and riled them up," she got on her knees, petting the dogs all around her, "Didn't I? Yes I did!" The dog-owner sweat-dropped, _She's talking to the hardened attack dogs as if they were children,_ stealing a look at the nin-dogs around him, _and it doesn't look like they mind._ Indeed, they were rolled over, baring their stomaches, begging for pets and wagging their dangerous tails.

"What is it about you that causes such loss of control, eh Hime-sama?"

* * *

><p>In his tree some distance away, Itachi wondered just the same thing. He had seen her go into the situation expecting her to get mauled. Nin-dogs in general didn't normally accept outsiders, especially prestigious ones like the Inuzuka's. Not only had they accepted her, but they were begging for her attention like school children.<p>

_Just another one of the anomalies that make up Haruno Sakura, I suppose._

The dogs surrounded her and he could hear her laughing from where he sat, it was like bells, a beautiful, haunting sound. One that, if he was honest with himself, he wouldn't mind hearing again.

* * *

><p>"Are you ready to see Lord Kiba-sama again?" Hokaru asked, to which Sakura gave a friendly nod of her head. Bending down, she said goodbye to all of her friends and followed the younger male.<p>

He lead her back into the house and guided her through it flawlessly, despite the many numerous twists and turns.

"He said he had something very important to talk to you about after you said hello to everyone," the sandy-haired boy told her blankly. He obviously didn't know what it was, and wasn't all that interested in it anyway. "Well," he stopped in front of a heavy wooden door, "he's in here. See you later."

The two exchanged polite waves and Sakura entered the room. It was light, huge windows covered one of the walls, there was a desk, a few chairs and a spinning chair faced away from the door.

"Kiba-kun?" She called cautiously, not seeing the man that was supposedly in the room. "Hello?" She walked in and looked around. The room wasn't that big, there were only so many places he could be.

Sakura perked her ears up, and heard a soft exhale from the chair facing away from her. Putting her hands on her hips the woman gave an exaggerated sigh before walking up and roughly spinning the chair around so it was facing her.

"Kiba-kun!" She cried out, looking at the spiky brown-haired future Clan Leader, sleeping in the chair, "You're almost as bad as Naruto!" The man woke with a start, eyes dilating and narrowing, expecting a fight. Upon seeing who it was, a light flush covered his cheeks at being caught sleeping on the job.

"Eheh, Sakura-chan..." He looked guilty as all hell, but they both laughed. Kiba rubbed the sleep from his eyes and reassessed the woman in front of him. Her long pink hair was sticking up everywhere, covered in dried drool, her clothes were dusty and there were paw-prints covering her clothes, she smelled very strongly of dog. "Yanno, you look like you're a part of the clan."

"Yeah?" she looked down at herself, "Well I guess I do! I just love those dogs so damn much." Hearing her praise for his partners made the man in front of her happy.

"Yeah, well, they seem to love you too." He replied.

"Speaking of which, where's Akamaru-kun?" The rosette looked under the desk separating her and the acting Clan Head in confusion. Normally, the immense white dog was the first to greet her.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Kiba's face became serious.

"What!" Sakura asked, in immediate panic, "Is he okay? What happened?"

"No! No, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you like that," Kiba reassured her, motioning with his hands for her to settle down, "Nothing's wrong. In fact, quite the opposite."

"Oh, thank Kami," Sakura put her hand over her heart, pleased that nothing had befallen her friend's partner. "So, then, what happened?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Kiba's face got serious once more, and Sakura knew whatever he was going to say was very important. Kiba was like Naruto, it took a lot for him to get serious, so when they did you'd better listen up.

"Akamaru just became a father for the first time a month and a half ago," Great pride seeped through his serious tone, and Sakura clapped her hands together in glee.

"Kiba-kun! That's terrific! That's so wonderful I'm so happy for all of you!"

Kiba grinned, "Thank you Sakura-chan, he's very happy, as are the rest of us."

"But, I'm confused," and her face reflected her words quite well, "where do I come in with this?"

"Well, as you know, this is the only litter Akamaru will have. He is The Alpha, and we can't have him having more than one litter in this compound. One of his pups will become the Alpha after him, but if he were to have more than one litter, there would end up being a fight to the death between the strongest from each litter to see who would be Alpha, and we simply can not have that." Sakura nodded in understanding, having been told something about it before.

"Now, we can tell which ones are most likely to be the Alpha, and which ones, though stronger than most every other nin-dog born here, won't be. And this is where you come in." Sakura still looked confused, but didn't interrupt, "We would like for you to have one of the dogs."

Sakura practically fell out of her chair, she was so shocked. There were probably only ten puppies, and Akamaru could only have one litter. Giving an outsider a nin-dog was one of the greatest honors the clan could bestow on someone, but to have one of the only pure-breed dogs from The Alpha's first and last litter? It was unheard of.

"K-Kiba-kun," Sakura breathed quietly, "Are you sure you want to do that? Are you sure you _can_ do that?" The woman once again found herself holding her heart, but this time for an entirely different reason.

"Yes, I'm positive. You've saved countless human and canine lives over, both after and before you were officially named the Clan's personal medic. You've won over each of the dogs we already have, and the people alike. Between that, your status as ANBU and Head Medic at the hospital, we believe you're well deserving."

Sakura was almost ashamed to find tears coming to her eyes in front of her childhood friend, "This is such a great honor," She stood from her chair and gave the lowest bow she could, "Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for this great honor, Lord Inuzuka-sama. I promise you I will care for and guard him or her with my life." Kiba's face took one of embarrassment at the formal way she spoke to him, but he appreciated it nonetheless. This was, indeed, the greatest honor his clan had ever given an outsider.

"Would you like to find out who it is?" As soon as he asked, she snapped up from her bow and her eyes lit up with happiness, unshed tears of gratitude still lingering in their emerald depths.

"Yes, please!"

* * *

><p>Sakura followed closely behind her friend to the nursery. She passed many dogs on her way, but her mind was on what she was walking to.<p>

_A nin-dog of my own, I can't believe it! And one of such high caliber, even Kakashi-sensei's dogs aren't this prestigious!_

She was almost shaking with excitement. A few feet in front of her Kiba stopped and opened a door. Inside she could see Akamaru and a smaller brown female. Crawling all over them were small pups, yipping and playing with one another. Sakura immediately fell in love-with all of them.

"Oh Kiba," she breathed, "they're wonderful."

The two dogs turned and assessed her, the female gave a warning growl, but didn't get up. It was just a warning, _I'm watching you_. Sakura understood, there were her babies.

"Well, go ahead in. You remember the process, right?" Kiba asked, and she nodded in the affirmative. The whole way here he explained how she would be picked by the puppy in the nursery.

Chances were that they would all check her out, but only one would choose her, as was custom. The one that chose her would instinctively link its chakra with her own, and once that was done, she would have the mother and father's approval to take their child home with her.

The way he explained it sounded very "by the book" but he said it was a very intimate, emotional moment for both the dog as well as the human, and that the feeling was like none other.

Sakura remembered this and sat down on the ground. Soon after, all the puppies walked up to her, giving curious sniffs. She resisted the urge to pick them up, knowing it would scare the young things away. She could hear Kiba walk out and close the door behind him, giving her some privacy.

"Which one of you will choose me?" Sakura wondered aloud. There were seven of them, four had already been given homes, the others were waiting for their own human to call their own now. Unlike normal dogs nin-dogs could survive without their parents after a month, as opposed to the six-eight weeks for a household pet.

Sakura looked each of them over, glad she wasn't the one that had to make a choice, because she was sure "all of them" wouldn't be an acceptable answer.

As she sat, a white pup pawed her hand. She made a point not to look too long at any each one, not wanting to fall in love until she was chosen. However, it kept pawing at her, and eventually wore down her resolve, she turned and looked at the pup in front of her.

As soon as she did, she knew she had been chosen. The puppy's ice blue eyes were staring directly at her, almost as if it could see into her soul. Sakura was paralyzed where she sat, feeling like she never had before. It was more intimate than any other experience she had ever faced, even when she bore her heart and soul to Sasuke before he left.

The dog was pure white, like freshly fallen snow, his, for it was a he, eyes were almost the same shade as Naruto's, they held the same tentative hope that his had held as a child. _Will you love me?_ They almost seemed to say. Sakura felt herself nodding slowly and silently, affirming the unasked question, and as soon as she did she could feel her chakra meld with the pup's own. It was almost tangible, hers soft green and his light blue. Neither one of them took their eyes off of the other through the whole process, not even after it was done, when they just sat and stared at one another.

"Akihiko-kun," Sakura whispered, _Bright Prince, _knowing somehow that that was his pup responded with a happy yip, before jumping into her lap, using her chest as leverage for his tiny paws to reach up and give her a lick on the cheek. Sakura happily responded, giving a girlish squeal of happiness and pulling the pup closer to her person.

"I love you!" She cried, feeling tears prick at the corners of her eyes for the second time that day.

* * *

><p>Hours after going inside from the training ground, Sakura came out of the main houses front doors. She gave an awkward bow to whomever let her out and a bright smile, her arms hindered from giving a real bow. Something was held in her ivory hands, something moving.<p>

Itachi glared at whatever it was, he did not like being unaware of what was happening around him. He adjusted his scope and focused on the bundle in the medic's arms. She cradled it like a small child, her face aglow with unadulterated happiness. Suddenly, a small head poked out of the blankets it was wrapped in, letting out a high-pitched yip.

_They gave her a dog?_

Sakura unwrapped the pup and gave it a kiss on its white head. The tiny animal responded by yipping again and licking her chin. The pair walked back in the direction of Sakura's apartment at a languid pace.

_The Inuzuka don't give their dogs away to anyone, even the Uchiha were unable to obtain one when they were alive. What has she done to deserve this?_

* * *

><p>Sakura walked with her new companion back to her apartment, planning on stopping at the market first to pick up some food and toys. Kiba had told her that as a nin-dog, there was no real specific food they had to eat. Of course, it wouldn't be wise to feed the dogs sweets all that often, but basically anything that Sakura was eating, Akihiko could as well.<p>

The future Clan leader had approved of her name for the pup, happy that they had found each other. Kiba was a generally easy-going man, but he took his duties very seriously, as the dogs they bred and raised were his family.

The pink-haired woman held the pup close. He could walk easily, she knew, but Kiba had informed her that Akihiko would grow to a monstrous size very quickly, and she wanted to hold him as long as she could.

Lost in her thoughts, Sakura didn't even notice her friend yelling her name, "Forehead!" Ino Yamanaka ran to her friend, waving an arm over her blond head, "Kami, Sakura, took you long enough!"

"Oh? Hi Ino-chan!" The rosette was too happy to rise to her taunting, "What's going on? I thought you were out on a mission with Shikamaru-san."

The girl blushed at his name, "No, we got back yesterday, I thought maybe the two of us could go out-" her blue eyes turned to the fluffy pile in her friend's arms, "what's that? When did you get a dog!"

"This is Akihiko-kun!" Sakura turned to her puppy, "Say hi to Ino-pig, she's one of my best friends!" Sakura presented the puppy to the blond ninja, holding him out under his front paws.

"Kawaiiii!" Ino grabbed the puppy, turned on her heel and walked toward the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

"Ino-pig! Gimmie Akihiko-kun back!" Sakura dashed off after her best girl friend, desperate not to be separated from her nin-dog no matter what.

"C'mon Forehead, we're having some girl time!"

* * *

><p>As it turned out, "girl time" with Ino meant tea and dango at the dango shop next door to her family's flower store. It had been a while since Sakura had sat down and enjoyed Ino's company, and was happy to use her day off to do so.<p>

"So, Ino-chan," there was a humorous glint in her green eyes, "What took you so long to seek me out after coming home with Shikamaru-san? Eh?" Ino's own eyes went wide and she blushed, before giving Sakura a dirty look.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Sakura-chan," she gave her best friend a sultry look, "But unfortunately, I can't let you live off of my experiences. Until you start getting some, I'm not telling you!"

Sakura looked appalled, dropping her look immediately and her face glowing a bright red, "I-Ino!"

* * *

><p>Itachi could hear the girl's conversation from where he sat in the back of the dango shop. He had been able to sneak in, still under a henge, right past the two. He hadn't been happy that the medic's guard had been down, but couldn't complain that he was able to sit down in an actual building for the first time in quite a while.<p>

He could see the rosy-haired woman feeding the small dog, Akihiko he learned his name to be, pieces of dango. Itachi couldn't help but be jealous of the dog, both because he got to eat the dango, but also because of how Sakura fed him.

An elderly woman came and took his order, but the stoic ninja just ordered some strong tea. He may be becoming more human, the longer he was near the med-nin, but his self-control in general had not wavered. As much as he loved dango, he wouldn't be having any.

The woman's conversation brought him back again, after his medic mentioned the future Nara Clan Leader. Sakura's friend pinkened when his name came up, but retorted instantaneously just as fast.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Sakura-chan," she gave her best friend a sultry look, "But unfortunately, I can't let you live off of my experiences. Until you start getting some, I'm not telling you!"

If Itachi were any less of a man, he probably would have choked on his hot tea. He wasn't prepared for this sort of conversation when he planned on staking the two friends out.

All the same, he waited for her response. _It won't do just to know about her professional life, _he reasoned with himself, _it would help in the end to know about who she is as a person as well._

It made sense, and it was true, it's hard to handle people without knowing what they're like, but in actuality the Uchiha was interested in knowing the girl, _woman_. She was to be, first and foremost, his medic. She _would_ heal his eyes as best as she can, back to how they were hopefully, but at least stop further damage from occurring. However, after that, she was going to be his in a whole different way.

Haruno Sakura, head medic of Konoha, apprentice to the Hokage, former teammate to both his otoutou and the Kyuubi container, was going to be the Uchiha murderer's possession. Unsure of where that would lead, Itachi was hesitant to label her as a "toy" or "his woman" but he knew she would belong to him, at least until he became bored of her anyway.

"I-Ino!" he could hear Sakura reply, "That is so inappropriate!" He couldn't see the pinkette's face, as he thought it best to sit behind her, in case she were to see through his henge, but he could imagine the look that matched the blush that was creeping up her neck.

Itachi could see the blond ninja smile like a cat at the woman in front of her, teasing her, "Oh, c'mon Sakura, you have plenty of offers. You're Konoha's number one eligible bachelorette!"

_Well, _Itachi thought, _that's interesting._

* * *

><p>"Or are you?" Ino, grinned at the medic once more, "There are rumors going around that a certain Hyuga prodigy has been courting you."<p>

Sakura sighed, feeding another dango to Akihiko, "_Attempting_ to court me is more like it. We were...seeing each other for a while, but then he started talking about marriage, and the Hyuga life and _kids_ of all things!" Sakura let out another exasperated sigh before continuing, "I love kids, I can't wait to have them, but he moved much too fast for me."

Ino gave her an empathetic smile, "I could see it a mile away, Sakura. He's been crazy about you for years, I'm not surprised he jumped at the chance you gave him. The Hyuga aren't known for their dilly-dallying."

"Oh please," Sakura waved away her words with her hand, "He isn't _crazy _about me. He just saw someone he got along with and would suit his clan's needs."

"Yeah, okay Forehead, whatever you say."

The pink-haired woman didn't take the bait though, distracted by a smell. Akihiko had paused as well, able to smell it too. The ever-so-faint smell of well controlled anger. She looked around the shop before pin pointing who was emitting the smell. She turned to the person, wondering why he was having to control anger in such a way. An average looking man behind her, his head placed on laced fingers, glared back at her.

"Mah, mah Sakura, what're you looking at?" Ino's voice pulled her away from the brown-haired citizen and re-directed her attention on the blond.

"Nothing," she looked over her shoulder at where the civilian had been before, but he was gone, "I guess I just got distracted for a second there."

Akihiko had gone from attentive to begging for more dango as well, so she just chalked it up to someone having a bad day.

_But the, why was he glaring at me?_

* * *

><p>The following day came too fast, as it always did. Sakura got one day off every two weeks or so, being the head medic, and therefor the head of the hospital in entirety, ensured that.<p>

As much as she loved her job, it got tiring after a while. Luckily, her days were interrupted on and off with missions, which was always a welcome distraction. The woman, clad in light pink scrubs, walked the sterile hallways of her domain. It was five in the morning, her usual arrival time, and things were bustling as always.

"Sakura-sama!" A nurse called her, handing her some clipboards and walking away.

"Oh goody, more paperwork," The only part of her job that the medic didn't love was the paperwork, much like her mentor. She was here to _help_people, not do paperwork! But, of course, she did. Because if she didn't then it would fall on someone else's shoulders, like Tsunade did to her and Shizune.

The exotic woman walked to her office, greeting nurses and patients alike on her way. She made it her business to know everything that went on in her hospital, including the names and story behind each employee and patient. It was about two in the morning, she had been here almost twenty-four hours, as usual. She never really left during her working days, instead choosing to sleep in her office when she needed it.

_This is going to take forever..._she thought to herself, _I almost wish there would be an emergency._

Suddenly, screams and shouts could be heard from the entrance, and Sakura knew she had gotten her wish.

"Fuck," knowing she had just jinxed herself, the head medic ran to the emergency operating rooms, scrubbing up in preparation for whatever was going down. It took mere seconds before the room was filled with hospital personal.

"What happened?" Sakura asked, her voice demanding but professional, "Which one is in most critical condition?"

"Sakura-sama!" A nurse with brown hair and flat amber eyes looked relieved to see her, "ANBU squad found them not too far outside of the gates! It was rogue Sound nin!" Sakura let out a little wisp of air, not having expected this. She hadn't yet looked at the victims, but after a brief analysis she could tell they were indeed attacked by Sound. Those were the only shinobi that would mutilate people like this and leave them to die of their wounds. Even though there was a new Otokage, the people had yet to weed out Orochimaru's violence from their shinobi.

_Not that this new Otokage is a much softer person..._

But Sakura waved her thoughts away, making a mental note to send a very angry letter to that man about watching his shinobi better, and ran to the medical tables. There were four of them, a Jounin leader and three chunin by the looks of it. The Jounin was clearly the most injured, having tried to protect his students from the look of it. His leg was broken in three places, he was missing a hand and there was a gaping hole in his chest, clear through to the other side. It's a wonder he hadn't bled out yet.

"I'm taking Jounin-san!" The others had already worked on stabilizing the three students, she knew the job of healing them would go to her once she was sure the Jounin would live, or after she lost him.

_But that's not going to happen!_ Sakura tied her long, cascading pink locks up in a high messy bun and pulled her medical gloved on. _Time to get to work!_

She started on the hole in the ninja's chest by assessing the damage. The attack was lightening based, given the burn marks on the outside and inside of his body, which wasn't odd for Sound-nin. Their sound attacks sometimes involved lightening, as most of them had weather-based attacks.

Sakura carefully but quickly cut away the mans vest and shirt, leaving him bare from the waist up on the cold metal table. The nurses had already given him anesthetic, which was good because it would have been too late in the game to now, and Sakura hated operating on someone who was in such pain.

The nurses in the room around her were pressed all the way against the white walls, each one of them doing what they can to help, but not wanting to get in the way. The man in front of her was on his way out, so she finished up her assessment and called fourth the green, healing chakra to her hands.

The blow had damaged his heart, nicking the bottom of it, torn through his lungs and completely removed his stomach, leaving only bits and fragments left behind, clinging to the walls of his body.

Sakura's hands moved quickly over his heart, knowing that she had to heal it in order for his body to be able to keep up with the rest of the intense surgery. She soothed the burned parts and stitched the nicked parts together using her chakra as a thread. Satisfied with the stabilizing, she instructed the nurse closest to her to give him another IV with blood, now that the heart could handle it.

Next, she worked her way to the man's severally damaged lungs. There was a fist sized hole in the bottom left one, tearing down to where the stomach usually resides. Obviously the attacker had punched him just under the heart with a lightning-encased hand and moved down, tearing a hole in his lungs before pushing out the other side of him, taking his stomach along with it.

"Hayke-san!" She addressed a man behind her, "Start a petri dish with these cells!" Sakura swabbed the man's remaining stomach lining, "There's no way for me to repair what isn't here, I'm going to have to grow him a new one once he's stabilized!" Her assistant nodded with a "Yes, Sakura-sama" and took the swap to her personal lab.

"Okay, Jounin-san, time to repair those lungs of yours!" There was already a tube down his throat, trying to assist him in his breathing, but the air was being lost through the hole in his lungs. Sakura pinched the soft tissue together with chakra-laced fingers and burned it a little, stitching the seems closed as she could. For the parts that were too far apart to close, she recreated cells and brought the edges closer together.

Sweat dripped down her brow, and a nurse brought a sponge to her forehead, wiping it clean. It had only been a couple hours now, the process was going to take much, much longer.

* * *

><p>Nine hours after starting on the jounin, Sakura pulled her bloodied hands away form his body, "He's stable!" she shouted, turning to another table where one of the chunin still struggled for his life, "someone continue where I left off!" Less experiences medic-nin rushed at the chance to work on what she had started, eager both to save a life and gain her approval.<p>

She had infused her chakra to act as a stomach for the sensei until she could regrow his stomach, and it was a constant drain on her chakra supply, but no one else had the expertise or reserves to do it. The boy in front of her looked a thousand times better than when he was brought in here, the Konoha medical shinobi were top class, but he still needed immediate attention from their head doctor.

There was a wound from a katana going through his shoulder right where the blade met his neck, in fact, part of the katana was still deeply embedded in his skin. Her personal hadn't remover it, because doing so would endanger his carotid artery, as it was dangerously close to the wound.

Sakura used chakra on the tips of her fingernails to slice away at the skin surrounding the blade, a slow, tedious process. Finally, the blade was revealed to her and she worked her way around the cold metal. She used the chakra to cut through the blade itself, removing it bit by bit so that she wouldn't have to pull it up and around the artery. Only a little was left inside the boy and she breathed in relief. Sakura encased the small amount in a bubble of her chakra and pulled it out, moving as slow as humanly possible. The rosette didn't dare breath as she passed by the carotid artery, for fear of slipping and nicking the vein, even a slight nick could mean life and death with someone as hurt as him.

"I have the blade," Sakura said softly, still not trusting herself to move much with the blade, even if it was safely out, "Put this in a bag for the examiner and the Hokage. The woman knew an attack like this might need a political move, and didn't want to get rid of anything useful in the decision making process.

"Hai, Sakura-sama!" People flurried around her, but time seemed to be at a standstill at the medic's fingertips. The blade had cut through the boy's bones, he would need a few weeks of rehabilitation, but she could speed up the process by about 50%. Once the tissued under the bone were healed, she brought the bone together and infused some of her chakra into it. The little amount she had applied would help tremendously when the wound was closed.

A second before she finished stitching up the entry wound, a monitor at the second chunin's bed started beeping and a nurse yelled out, "He's crashing!"

They had stabilized him earlier, but it seemed like there was something that kept rearing its ugly head. On the outside he looked alright, there were no mortal wounds that refused to close or burns, and Sakura immediately suspected poison.

Her green encased hands roamed over the boy, before pausing on his head. There were unknown substances woven through his parietal and occipital lobes. She worked fast, telling her two most trusted assistants what she had to do. The poison would kill him if they were left in there, but if she removed them the wrong way they would damage the lobes they resided in.

Luckily, most occipital and parietal lobe damage wasn't life-threatening. But, for a ninja, it was an immediate loss of a job. Vision and reading/writing would almost definitely be affected, what good is a ninja that can't see to fight or even write a mission report?

_His life is _not_ going to be changed by this._ Sakura promised both herself and the boy laying in front of her silently.

* * *

><p>Hours later, Sakura had since lost count, the poison was almost completely out of the chunin's system and in a bowl for analysis in her lab later. Only trace amounts were left, something she would be able to take out in the next go.<p>

"Sakura-sama," Hayke put a soft hand on her shoulder, "do you want me to take this? You've been training me in the art of poisons for the past year, and your chakra is almost nil."

Sakura glanced wearily at the boy, "You're more than capable, Hayke-san, don't think I doubt you for a minute, but I would rather finish this up myself, as his entire ninja career hangs in the balance. Everyone makes mistakes, myself included, and I wouldn't want any blame put on you if something were to happen."

The man bowed politely and returned to watching over the jounin and other male chunin. Someone wiped Sakura's brow for the millionth time that day, and she hovered her hands over the boy once again.

Blackish purple substance came out of his eyes like tears, the last of the poison. The pinkette smiled on the inside, too tired to on the outside, and disposed of the remains in the poison bowl.

"Male chunin number two is stable," her voice held much less enthusiasm than she felt, and someone took over cleaning him up for her. It was the third shift of nurses, as Sakura had long since demanded they take breaks to rest and eat, not trusting anyone but herself to work that long without screwing up. Hayke was the only person allowed back in for the third shift that was there for the first as well, since he was an unofficial apprentice of Sakura's.

Sakura looked for the third chunin, the female on the team, laying not too far away from her bandaged up on a gurney. She looked no worse for the wear, a collection of cuts and bruises but no deep gashes.

"What was her prognosis upon entry?" Sakura asked a medic near her, holding the girl's clipboard.

"Not bad, dehydration and chakra exhaustion, some cuts and bruises, but it looks like the three men took the brute force." The head medic tuned the rest out, taking a closer look at the young girl.

Short brown hair and a young looking face, one that would gain a lot of attention in the years to come, but looked too immature for her age now.

_The three men took the brute force...protecting her. _Sakura gave an ironic sigh, it was like looking at a younger version of herself. _They still stand in front of me whenever we're getting ready for battle, even when they know I can hold my own. _

"It hurts now, and they'll never stop doing it," She whispered into the sleeping girl's ear softly, "But I promise you, someday you'll realize they do it out of love."

The woman looked to the three people she had saved along with her team. They were all washed and bandaged up now, ready to be moved from the O.R. to the I.C.U. so they could be watched over.

"Put them in the same room if you can," Sakura spoke to a nurse, "It helps to wake up and immediately know your teammates are safe. When the girl wakes up, it'll be soon, make sure everyone knows she's allowed to go and see them, she'll want to."

With that, Sakura left to go change into clean scrubs and begin growing the jounin a new stomach.

* * *

><p>Sakura was found slumped over a medical textbook much later by Shizune, a regrown stomach in a medical tube next to her.<p>

"Sakura-chan," The older medic whispered in her ear, immediately awakening the younger woman and alerting her.

"Ah, Shizune-chan! I must have dozed off..." Sakura glanced around until her eyes landed on a clock, "Oh good, ten whole minutes." She grumbled sarcastically.

"Sakura, when did you arrive?" Came her motherly tone, having to deal with both Sakura and Tsunade for years gave that to her.

"Uh..." Sakura trailed off sheepishly, "About five. Why? What time is it? What day is it even?"

Shizune threw her hands in the air, never becoming accustomed to the way her mentor and fellow pupil worked.

"The squad came in at three in the morning," she said, giving Sakura the stink eye, "This morning, almost yesterday. You guys worked through the night, and the next day. It's eleven at night."

Sakura winced not only at the sound of Shizune's short anger, but also at the news she had just received. She had been working on the team for about twenty hours, and in the hospital since...well, the whole day before that.

_Lucky I took that nap before they arrived._

"Sakura," she said, her exasperation made known through the lack of honorific at the end of her name, "I'm doing the surgery to put the stomach back in the jounin, _you go home._"

"But I have to check out this toxin!" Sakura shouted, enraged that she was being "sent home" like a sick child.

"No buts, Sakura! Orders from Tsunade, she was _not_ happy when she heard about the hours you logged in the day you get back from recovery leave. She says not to come back tomorrow, and that she'll be watching your office for pink hair."

As much as she wanted to argue, Sakura was way too tired, and decided to pick up with the fight tomorrow, "Fine, I'm leaving now."

The two walked, well Sakura dragged herself, downstairs and to the front entrance of the hospital, making no small talk. Talking would take too much energy for the pinkette, and Shizune, who had seen her in this state way more than once, understood.

"Sakura," the woman turned to her, eyes practically closed, "Don't you think you should have someone walk you home?" But Sakura just waved her off,

"I can make it, I'm not too far away, I've walked home like this before."

Shizune didn't argue, knowing that it would be like talking to a brick wall, and just waved instead.

* * *

><p>A couple miles later, Sakura regretted not just staying and sleeping at the hospital. She was walking like a zombie, eyes half lidded and chakra as close to zero as one can get without dying.<p>

"Shit..." she barley even had the energy to cuss properly. Up ahead a stone bench made itself visible to her.

_I can rest for just a second..._was all she got out before reaching the bench and collapsing onto it, curled up in the fetal position and instantly in a coma-like sleep.

* * *

><p>When Itachi reached the hospital and couldn't make out Sakura's chakra, he wanted to hit himself for leaving even for the short amount of time that he had. She had been in there for well over a day, encroaching on two actually, and decided to take a few hours to sleep, but when he came back at eleven thirty, she was gone.<p>

At first he thought that maybe he just wasn't looking hard enough for her almost completely diminished chakra sense, but after taking a second look he confirmed that she was, indeed, gone.

_Hopefully they sent her home, _he thought to himself. Though judging from the amount of chakra she had and the amount of hours she had been awake, she wouldn't be far away. _Might be a good time to take her..._

With that thought, Itachi disappeared from the building's roof on the way to the woman's apartment.

* * *

><p>Still sleeping on the cold concrete bench on her way home, Sakura didn't even feel the enormous approaching chakra walking toward her. Even when someone's familiar voice spoke, quoting the ninja hand-guide they all had to memorize back in the academy, Sakura didn't stir.<p>

"A ninja should always be aware of their surroundings." The voice was hard, almost emotionless, but one could detect a sliver of amusement if they listened hard enough.

Sakura muttered incoherently in her sleep and strong hands wrapped around her petit body, lifting her gently into strong arms that held her protectively.

"Imagine if someone who meant you harm found you before me."

* * *

><p>Itachi found the medic mere minutes after leaving the hospital where he had been expecting to find her before.<p>

She was in a deep sleep, passed out really, on a bench a little more than half way to her house. She was in clean, white scrubs, having changed from the morning before. Her long tresses were wrapped around her body, coming out from a hastily made bun. Moonlight shone on her, bathing the woman in ethereal light, enhancing her exotic beauty.

He stood on the roof looking down upon her, wanting to feel her silky skin in his arms, her hair swishing gracefully on his skin. It would be the perfect time to take her, and he would have done so if he hadn't paused to take in her looks.

But since he did, the Uchiha missed his opportunity, and a certain Hyuga took it instead. Itachi's red eyes narrowed dangerously when he noticed the Hyuga's presences walk up to the rosette laying on the bench, completely unawares.

He quoted a ninja-rule before picking the woman up easily, as Itachi had planned to do. Anger seeped through the Uchiha at the sight of Sakura in Neji Hyuga's arms, not only because he was another man, but also because he had learned earlier of some sort of involvement between the medic and him.

"Imagine if someone who meant you harm found you before me." The younger man's words hit home to the red-eyed shinobi on the roof not too far away, and when he started to walk away with the kunoichi, nobody noticed the shadow following him closely.

* * *

><p>Neji walked unhurriedly to the medic's apartment, relishing the feel of her in his arms again after she had broken off their relationship. Knowing that Naruto and Sai were on a mission, he unlocked the door with the hidden key she kept under a genjutsu. The only reason he knew about it was because he has seen her use it before, otherwise it would be nigh impossible to find.<p>

He settled the woman comfortably and closed the door behind him, but not locking it, and starting up the stairs to her room familiarly.

"You're lucky Shizune found me in the hospital lobby," he told the unconscious woman, "Or you'd be sleeping out there all night." Not that she hadn't done so before, Sakura was as headstrong as her mentor, refusing help or an escort home. Many people had heard of or found the woman asleep in random places on her way home, unable to go any further.

"What am I going to do with you?" The Byakugan wielder entered the plain bedroom and lay the medic on top of the covers, unaware of the glowing red eyes that were watching his every move from just outside the open window, easily within hearing distance.

"Mmmph," the rosette stirred from her place on the bed, but Neji ignored her, instead slipping her shoes and socks off, so as to make her more comfortable.

"Neji?"

* * *

><p>Sakura could feel herself move through the air, but couldn't bring it upon herself to wake up until her body was placed onto a soft, familiar bed. She worked her way back to the world as someone removed her shoes, followed closely by her socks.<p>

"Neji?" She asked, recognizing the chakra that filled the room.

The man looked up at her, his eyes fixed solely on her own, "I didn't think you'd wake up, I found you outside not too far away. Looks like you fell asleep." He didn't allow her a second to speak before he criticized her, "That's not very smart, I would expect more from someone who is to join the Hyuga clan someday."

Sakura lifted herself, leaning on her elbows behind her, "Neji, I'm not having this discussion. Thank you for bringing me home, I'm going to put my pajamas on and go to bed." She was caught between wanting to tell him to leave, for bringing up the whole marriage issue again after she had given her answer, and needing to be polite since he had just brought her home.

"Is that an invitation?" His silky-smooth voice asked her, and she could see him start to remove his loose shirt.

"_No,_" she sat up completely, her pink hair falling like a waterfall around her, "it most certainly is not an invitation." But he continued to remove his shirt and look at her all the same.

"Neji," the woman protested, "stop. Thank you for bringing me home, but you have your answer and I would really like to get some sleep."

"But I don't have the answer that I want," He said, and leaned over the bed, bare chest mocking her, "and until I do I'll keep trying to convince you."

The man climbed on the bed, sitting back on his hunches at the edge, her dainty feet right in front of him. Looking uncomfortable at their position, Sakura pulled her feet back, her long legs curling to her body. He just sat and looked at her, and even though she didn't want to give him what he wanted, she let her eyes roam over his physique. As soon as she did he smirked and moved a little closer on his hands, crawling toward the much smaller woman.

"Neji," Sakura begged, "I really don't want to do this right now. My chakra is almost at zero and I've been awake for well over a day and a half." She backed up until her body hit the backboard of the bed, stopping her.

"I'm sure you can find the energy, Sa-ku-ra, you always could before," His sly voice teased her and he brought himself even closer to the pinkette, wrapping a sure arm around her quivering body.

"Neji," she pushed weakly against his bare chest, "I said _no._"

But again, the man just smirked before gently, albeit forcefully, lowering her body under his on the bed. Lack of sleep and chakra hindered her from being able to fight back against the much bigger and more powerful male above her.

"Don't give me that," he lowered his head, creating a curtain of smooth chocolate, brown hair around her, "I know how much you like to be dominated. You say no," he nuzzled into the crook of her neck, "but not too long later, you're begging for more." He gave the tender skin on her neck a tiny nip and she sucked in a quick breath despite herself.

"N-Neji..." as much as she didn't want the commitment, the things he spoke to her about, right now all she could process was the wildly attractive, half-naked man above her promising her tired body a night of pleasure.

Hearing the want in her voice, despite the warning, Neji trailed hot kisses and nips down the

of her neck to her collarbone, "C'mon..this isn't fair," she whispered, but he continued sucking on her neck, leaving a red hot love mark in his wake.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you want me to stop," he challenged her, and the woman looked up into his eyes. Every fiber in her mind told her to tell him to fuck off, but her body responded differently. As tired as she was, memories of nights past spent with the man situated around her thighs conflicted her. She could feel her core heat up as he lowered his head again, taking her silence for consent.

Sakura knew she couldn't let him continue what he was doing, but she didn't hesitate when he pulled the edges of her borrow scrubs over her head. The man was very talented in bed, she would absolutely give him that.

"Neji, please, you know I don't want-" but before the words were out of her mouth he bit down on a pert nipple through her sports bra, enticing a moan from the woman under him.

The second he did Sakura's dulled senses became completely obsolete. Neji felt her relax under him and he pressed his hard body against her soft, pliable one, ready to capture her willing lips.

Neither one of the adults could feel why, but all of a sudden Akihiko started going crazy from his large doggy bed on the floor. Neji hadn't seen the dog, and in her state Sakura hadn't acknowledged him, but he was there sleeping softly, after hearing his mistress come in safely.

The small, white nin-dog wailed and barked like a maniac, interrupting the two figures on the bed not too far away, and bringing Sakura back to her senses. As soon as she came back to herself, she gently pushed Neji, who was alert and looking out the window at what the dog was barking at, off of her. The woman pulled her shirt on and slid off of the bed, gathering the small dog in her arms.

Then, she could smell it too. It was the same anger as earlier, but this time a thousand times angrier. It was absolutely _murderous_. There was no chakra spikes, so whomever was feeling so was a very skilled shinobi, able to feel such intense hatred but not letting his chakra go out of check. Sakura and Akihiko looked out the dark window, unable to see anyone, but Neji, who couldn't smell the feelings in the air, turned away.

"Must be a squirrel," he supplied, running a large hand through his hair, "When did you get a dog anyway?"

"Kiba-kun gave him to me a few days ago," she said distractedly, still looking for the source of the anger, "Ino-chan has been taking care of him while I've been working."

Neji ignored her last comment, instead turning his Byakugan on and scoping out the area quickly. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, maybe the dog was barking at the civilian walking on the street too far away, he turned it off and looked at the medic who was still staring intently out the window.

"Sakura," he said her name and walked to her, wrapping an arm around her waist again, "come back to bed." There, again, Akihiko growled and she could feel the smell spike again, but still no chakra.

Unable to find the culprit, she turned around and removed herself from the Hyuga's grasp, "Neji, I've got to sleep, and I'm sorry but I've told you that this can't work out between us. You and your clan need someone entirely different than me, trust me." The man gave the tiny dog a glare and Sakura could have sworn she heard him mutter "cock-block" to him.

"I disagree, but we'll talk about this later, I can tell you're too tired."

Sakura rolled her eyes but thanked him anyway, knowing that was the only way to get him to leave. Neji left through the open window right after that and Sakura locked it behind him, enforcing it with a paper seal.

"Who could possibly be that angry?"

* * *

><p>Itachi was seeing red. Never in his life had he felt violently angry, so instinctively possessive. How <em>dare<em> that Hyuga brat touch what was his? So passionately, so familiarly, the way only Itachi should to be able to.

As perfectly controlled as his chakra was, the Inuzuka dog still outed him though, alerting the figures on the bed to his presence, or at least the woman. Sakura and dog took similar positions at the open window, as if they could smell him. He made a silent retreat, knowing the Hyuga would use his Byakugan sooner or later, instead posing as a civilian on a late-night walk.

Minutes later the man left though her window, and Itachi reined in his temper, perching on the tree once again to look in her now closed and sealed window. Sakura had the light turned off, and was snuggled in a t-shirt under the covers, her dog curled up on her chest facing her. She spoke to him and pet him, but Itachi couldn't hear what she was saying.

He watched all the same though, wanting nothing more than to barge in and erase all thoughts and memories of the Hyuga. He had heard what the man had said before, about how Sakura loved to be dominated, how she always ended up begging for him in the end, and indeed it looked true from the way she responded to him. But once he had her, Sakura wouldn't be able to recall anything pleasurable about the Hyuga ever again.

Uchiha and Hyuga have always been rivals, over everything, no matter what. Itachi had already lost a battle, seeing how Neji had slept with the woman before, but he would not win the war. No one took what was his, before or after he claimed it. Sakura had made a grave mistake, sleeping with his clan's rival, and he would make sure to _punish_ her when he saw fit.

* * *

><p>The next morning Sakura woke up well rested, despite how her night started. It was late in the afternoon, actually, but she laid in bed anyways. There was no way for her to get into her wing of the hospital, Tsunade would expect her there, but if she waited long enough she might be able to sneak into another one.<p>

The medic finally rolled out of bed and headed for a shower, _I seriously need one, I smell like sweat and blood._

Even a shower probably wouldn't be able to expel the scent from her body, working in a place like the Konoha hospital did that to a person. First walking downstairs and filling a bowl with leftover chicken from a dinner nights before and giving it to Akihiko, she then grabbed a white towel and her fluffy pink shower robe.

Akihiko dashed for the food seconds after Sakura entered the bathroom, intent on letting the hot water run over her ever-sore back. As soon as the hot spray hit her, the rosette let out a throaty moan.

"This feels so great," she said to no one, just letting her body absorb the welcome heat. Even long after scrubbing each inch of her tone body with raspberry scented body wash and watching the last of the suds ran down the drain, Sakura stood under the hot water. Hair and body clean, though, she couldn't put it off much longer, and stepped out. Her long hair was wrapped in the white towel when a knock was heard on her door and Akihiko started barking.

"Shit!"

The woman quickly wrapped the pink robe around her lushes body and looked down her stairs, able to see out the window on the top of the door. A masked shinobi stood at the stoop, looking straight ahead.

"Ah, ANBU-san!" She called out, drawing his attention, "I'm sorry, come on in! I'll be right down!" She heard the door open but got no response, closing the door to her room to change.

Minutes later the woman was in a pair of sea-foam green scrubs that complimented both her hair and eyes, ready to meet the ANBU in her apartment. Her hair was still wet and put up into a pile on her head.

"ANBU-san," she walked down the stairs to great him, as she could tell by the uniform that it was indeed a him, "I'm sorry for the wait, I didn't expect anyone to come by. What seems to be the problem?"

The man looked at her through a wolf mask and spoke, "I come to deliver a message from the Hokage." Sakura tilted her head to the side, awaiting the message.

"She asked me to inform you that all of your patients made it through the night and are still stable, getting better. She said that since you're not allowed to come in today," Sakura's brow furrowed as the ANBU took in her scrub-clad outfit, "that you would like to know."

"Thank you very much, I'm sorry she sent you out just to deliver this message though, it's surly a waste of your time."

* * *

><p>In actuality, it wasn't a waste of his time, considering his job at the moment was to collect information on the woman whose kitchen he was standing in. Itachi had donned his old uniform, mask included, in order to move around the village easier, instead of being in a constant henge.<p>

After intercepting a genin whose mission it was to believer the message, Itachi had made his way to the pinkette's house, now with both a reason as well as a disguise to be let in. What he hadn't expected was for her to be in a towel, and call out for him to answer. Or for there to be faint marks on her ivory skin from last night.

* * *

><p>The ANBU didn't seem to be paying any mind to her words, instead looking lower than her face. At first she felt her anger flare up, thinking he was gawking at her, until she realized his gaze was directed at her neck.<p>

Embarrassment coloured her face when she realized what Neji must have left there and she lifted a hand to discreetly heal any marks that must have decorated her skin. As soon as she did, the man before her visibly relaxed but remained silent.

"Sooo..." she trailed off, unsure of what to say, "I don't want to take any more of your time. Thank you for coming by,"

"Actually," his cool voice slipped into the air, reminding her of someone, somehow, "I just got off duty, I delivered the message because you're on my way home."

"Oh!" She looked relieved at not being a problem for the man in front of her, "Well in that case, can I get you anything to eat or drink to thank you? Any wounds you need taken care of? I don't recognize your mask, but you probably know many of our fellow ANBU come here for personal care," she saw him give a minuscule nod.

"There is something, if you have time, that you could maybe tend to." Sakura gave an easy smile and lead him to the living room, turning on a few lights and drawing the blinds for privacy from the outside world.

"What can I do for you?"

* * *

><p>Itachi didn't know what to ask of her, seeing as there was nothing physically wrong with him. The man was in tip-top condition, aside, of course, from his eyes, but the thought of personal care from the medic was too tempting to pass up. However, she would know immediately if he tried to get her to work on his Sharingan.<p>

"I seem to be sore, it's not something I want to go to the hospital for, but it causes me discomfort and-" She cut him off with a look and a laugh.

"ANBU-san, you don't have to explain yourself to me," she laughed again and pointed to the couch, "Who was it that told you about the massages? Was it Frog-san? He's here three times a week!"

_Massages? _But Itachi sat down on the couch anyway, enticed by the thought of her little hands on him.

"You guys act like you're tricking me," she motioned for him to remove his vest and sit turned away from her, which he did, "But as you know I'm ANBU too, I know there's nothing like a massage after a long bout of missions."

Itachi sat on the couch listening to her talk, _So, many ANBU come here for personal medical care, as well as massages after missions._ His vest on the ground, Itachi was left in a clingy, black, long sleeved shirt sitting on the couch facing a wall. The woman behind him became silent and he felt the ghost of a touch on his back.

"Try and relax ANBU-san," Her soft voice asked him, but he didn't try, relaxing with your back turned to someone was asking for a kunai.

Suddenly, chakra-laced hands touched his shoulder, and he had no option by to relax. She worked out years of knots in just a few minutes, going hard enough to work through the knots but not enough to torture the man.

"Kami, Wolf-san, this is going to take more than once! No wonder your feeling uncomfortable."

She worked on him silently for the rest of the time, massaging his neck and shoulders until they felt like jelly. Asking him to lay on the couch, Itachi couldn't even think to protest, instead listening like an obedient dog. Her soft hands rubbed against his spandex-like shirt up and down either side of his spine. His eyes grew heavy and he felt himself doze off if only for a second. He could feel years upon years of tension leave his body in the thirty minutes she worked on him.

"I'm sorry," her voice pulled him out of his sleep-like trance, "I know I told you I would help but I actually have to run to the hospital." Itachi barley registered what she said, but sat up all the same, sinking into the couch.

"Tsunade banned me from the O.R. side of the hospital, so I'm going to sneak in and check on the newborns, she won't find me there."

Itachi had never felt so defenseless, he almost felt drunk, his body had never been this loose or pain-free before.

_Once she heals my eyes, I'll be back to better medical condition than I ever have been before..._

"Can you lock up when you leave?" She asked, and pressed a cool key into his hand, "I have to run but it looks like you're comfortable." Before she could pull away, Itachi closed the key and her delicate hand in his much larger one, looking up at her with obsidian eyes through the eye-holes in his mask.

"Thank you, Sakura-san," he said completely honestly, and a weird look crossed her face, like she was trying to remember something.

* * *

><p><em>I know I've heard that voice before...<em>

"Of course, Wolf-san," she replied and pulled her hand away, "Maybe we'll have the pleasure to work together on a mission sometime, ne?" The owner of the wolf mask merely nodded and she turned toward the door.

"See you around!" She walked out the door, leaving him unattended in her house as if it was something average.

"Too trusting."

* * *

><p>Sakura managed to sneak into the maternity wing without a problem, no one ever expected her there unless there was a mother having a complicated labor or a child in need of immediate medical attention. What most people didn't know, save for the elderly head nurse of the ward who allowed her in and the other nurses that came in to care for the children, is that Sakura often spent time with the newborns, just caring for them.<p>

The woman found it soothing, especially after a long day of work, to hold the infants in her capable arms, knowing that even if a life was lost that day, there were new ones being born all the time.

The room was windowless and rectangular, light yellow in colour, a neutral shade, and filled with cute pictures of ducklings and other baby animals. In the far corner was a rocking chair and matching foot-stool to hold the children in whilst feeding them, which is what she spent a good portion of her time doing, babies ate constantly.

Not very surprisingly, no one was in the room with her at the moment, since the visiting room was down the hall. This is where the children were kept when they needed to be fed or when no one was hoping to get a look at them from the outside window. There were maybe twelve children, most of them sleeping soundly, but a few gurgled happily in their small hospital beds.

"Oooh," Sakura cooed to a baby girl, one of two children in the room that were wailing with hunger, "what's wrong little one? Are you hungry?" She picked the child up, holding her in her sure arms and rocking her from side to side, quelling the offending noise by a bit. "Let me get a bottle ready for you."

The rosette walked into another room and prepared the infant's meal, testing the temperature of the milk on her wrist to make sure it wasn't too hot. When she came out, the gurgling babies had become silent, having fallen asleep despite the loud crying of their roommate.

Sakura put the bottle down on the small table next to the rocking chair and made her way to the baby girl, "Honey, honey!" Her pure voice wove through the room, soothing the children, "Come here, lets get you situated." She picked up the small child, no more than seven pounds, and tucked her under a tone arm, carrying her effortlessly.

"I hate to see you so upset!" She talked in a childish voice, tucking her legs under her body and curling up in the comfortable rocking chair, "Here you go, I got you your bottle."

The child lay wriggling in the older woman's arms, impatient for her food. Sakura wrapped her body around the child's, cushioning it so to make sure she was comfortable. Holding the child, Sakura rubbed the tip of the bottle's nipple against the baby's lips until she accepted it and began to suckle.

"There you go," Sakura spoke softly, pressing a soft kiss onto the top of her fuzzy blond head. The child's big blue eyes stared, looking around her in wonderment but unable to focus one one thing for too long. Sakura's own green eyes crinkled up in a brilliant smile, staring down focusing intently on the child in her arms.

The girl nestled closer to Sakura's warmth and closed her eyes, suckling at a languid pace. The medic could feel her own tired eyes about to follow suit, she still wasn't completely recovered from the other day. Knowing that the slightest change in the child would awaken her, Sakura allowed herself to lightly doze off, arm still wrapped around the baby and the other feeding her.

* * *

><p>Itachi knew it was pretty much now or never. He had since left the house and blended into the crowd, no one questioning an ANBU. As long as Tsunade wasn't milling around, he was in the clear.<p>

The trusting medic had told him exactly where she was going to be, the maternity ward, and from past experiences he knew the section she would be in. He spent hours there the first few days Sasuke had been born.

Itachi jumped from rooftop to rooftop, both out of habit as well as because he was in a rush. The longer it took for him to capture the medic meant the more his eyes could deteriorate, and that simply wasn't allowed to happen.

The only problem with taking her right now, as it was still light out, is that he would have to put her under a henge, so people wouldn't question why a man carrying their easily recognizable pink-haired medic was leaping over the village walls.

But, naturally, for the Uchiha prodigy, this would be no problem. The hospital was almost in the dead center of the village, so as soon as he grabbed and subdued her, he would just head in any direction that looked clearest and start on his way back to the main base in Rain.

Itachi landed with cat-like grace in front of the hospital's maternity wing, entering through the obscure side door that mostly the nurses only used. Upon entering, he found himself in a familiar white hallway, bringing a wave of nostalgia over him. How long ago had he walked these halls, seeking out his younger brother? Twenty, it must be, as that's how old Sasuke was now.

_Twenty years ago, before the coup, before ANBU, before the family took over my life. _Six year old Itachi was already far superior than anyone his age, even older, in the ninja arts, but he had yet to be submerged fully into the Clan's politics. It had been a happier time then.

Shaking his black hair to clear himself of the thoughts, the man felt with tendrils of his own chakra to find Sakura's, making sure he would go the right direction. Down the hall he took a sharp left, then a right and another right, coming upon a flight of stairs. Her presence was in the room where they kept the children that weren't being visited through the window viewing-room.

A few nurses gave him confused looks, but he didn't acknowledge them, and by the way he walked with determination they assumed he knew where he was going. Finally, a door marked "Staff Only" came into his view, and he could feel not only Sakura's chakra, but the minuscule chakra that everyone is born with, of many tiny children. He looked down each hallway subtly and turned the doorknob, walking in.

* * *

><p>Sakura felt someone else enter the room but didn't open her eyes, still intent on catching any sleep she could. It was probably just a nurse, checking in on the children, anyway, and she would leave soon.<p>

Far away in her own world, Sakura could hear the person place a bad on the ground almost silently. The baby in her arms twitched at the disturbance and Sakura instinctively comforted her.

* * *

><p>The woman was curled on a rocking chair, clad in the same light green scrubs she had left in this morning. Her legs were supported against of the chair arms, her back against the other. Her head was leaning on the back of the chair, arms filled with a child drinking from a bottle in her other hand.<p>

Itachi looked at the two with an emotionless facial expression. He saw the child twitch when he put his bag on the ground, and how Sakura responded. The man took his wolf face mask off, not having a need for it anymore.

She hadn't opened her eyes, though he could tell that she was sleeping quite lightly, and must have heard him come in. He shifted back and forth on his heels a couple of times, trying to make her aware of him.

However, no amount of shuffling he did made her look at him from her light slumber, so the man decided to take a more drastic action. One that was sure not only to wake the woman, but also to enrage her, which would be satisfying after what he had to go through to take her.

* * *

><p>Whoever was in the room was making a decent amount of noise, it must have been a new nurse, because most of the others, as much as they looked up to Sakura, also feared her legendary temper, and wouldn't want to wake her up. It was easy to tune them out though, as she was still somewhere in her light dreamland, cradling a now fast asleep baby girl in her arms.<p>

It wasn't until a baby started screeching with all it had in it that Sakura's eyes popped open. It took her less than a second to become aware of the situation, and her emerald green orbs narrowed in anger. Uchiha Itachi was, somehow, in the room with her, holding a baby boy rather carelessly in his hand.

The child's blanket was falling half-way down to the ground and Itachi looked at her, Sharingan activated, blankly. Sakura averted her eyes away from his own, and looked at the child, worry written plainly all over her face. It wasn't a matter of the man dropping the child by accident, he was a S-rank shinobi after all, rather the thought that he might not drop the child by accident, but rather on _purpose_.

The small boy screamed and cried at being woken up and how he was uncomfortably held. Itachi had on hand on his back, and though he was supporting his head, the child was held at quite a distance from the man's body, having no place to lean against or any heat to absorb.

In under a second she had observed this, and gotten up from her seat on the chair, slowly and carefully so as to not disturb the sleeping child, or make the red-eyed man in front of her do anything rash.

"What are you doing here?" Her face was flat and as emotionless as his own, but her voice held more than a little controlled anger and worry.

* * *

><p>"I think you know." He answered her as bland as can be, eyes never leaving her face, but unable to connect with her own eyes, as hers were focused solely on the child he held.<p>

"There's no reason to do this," she said, and stood up straighter, cradling the baby she had been feeding to her scrub-clad chest. "You're not going to hurt him."

Itachi looked down at the baby boy in his arm. Of course he wouldn't hurt him, he wouldn't hurt a defenseless child. The prodigy had never killed, or harmed for that matter, an innocent child. Not even on that night...no, that was taken care of by Uchiha Madara, who didn't think twice about it. However, the woman standing tensely in front of him didn't know that, so he let her think that he just might.

"You will come with me, and heal my eyes."

Sakura tensed up to the point where she was stilled completely. He could see in the grimace on her face that she wanted nothing more that to tell him to stick in where the sun don't shine, but she refrained for the sake of the child in his arms.

Sakura walked to an empty bed and placed the sleeping girl in it with care, tucking her in and putting the empty bottle on the floor before turning back to Itachi, looking at his forehead.

"Give me the baby."

He smirked lightly, going unnoticed by her, "Does that mean you agree?"

Sakura let out a held breath, and with a voice laced with killing intent she spoke,

"I'll go with you."

"Good," was all Itachi said, and held the child out further, handing him over to the panicking woman. Sakura immediately rushed forward and gently grabbed the infant, bounding him and whispering soft words into his ear to calm him.

Itachi let her do so, much too filled with excitement at the prospect of having his eyes healed to care about the extra few minutes.

Minutes later the child stopped crying and she placed him in the crib Itachi had taken him out of, tucking him in like she had the girl before.

The Uchiha couldn't see her face, but by the look of her shoulders, and body language, she was angrier than he expected her to be. It's not like actually dropped the kid. The woman whipped around, exotic emerald eyes on fire with subdued anger. She invaded his personal space in milliseconds, glaring up directly into his Sharingan eyes willingly for the first time.

She poked him in the chest with a chakra-laced finger and he didn't move to stop her, knowing she wouldn't do anything that would anger him into hurting the children. His body was pressed back against the wall with her force and she quickly followed, seething. The mans hands were by his sides while one of hers was balled up into fist, the other still poking him in the chest.

"If I find out you ever laid another finger on any one of these children," she said, still poking him in the same spot to emphasize her words, "I will fucking kill you." And Itachi believed her.

Sakura's anger was evident in the way she held herself, her much smaller body almost pressed against his larger, masculine without even a hint of fear. Her mesmerizing eyes stared directly into his own, challenging him and showing him that his Sharingan didn't scare her one bit.

Not even when the three tomoe in his eyes began spinning dangerously did she look away, instead just glaring harder, fire alight on her face.

"Understood."

The rosette's body fell lightly forward as soon as he replied to her earlier threat, and he gathered her up in his arms the second she hit his muscular chest. Finally, _finally_, after weeks of waiting, gathering information and planning, the medic was going back to the base to heal his eyes.

_And much, much more.  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sooo! How'd you like it? I worked really hard on this one, so I hope you all really enjoyed it! I really, really love reviews about what you did or didn't like, suggestions and pointers so PLEASE review! Anything you want to tell me at all! Thank you! 3**

**Liebe,  
>Vera<strong>

"We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will,"  
>-Chuck Palahniuk<p> 


	6. Understanding

**Since the dawn of time the Uchiha have put friends and enemies alike under a spell with their Sharingan. But what happens when a certain medic unknowingly puts the Uchiha prodigy under a spell with her own mesmerizing eyes? "I will have her," he said possessively, "She's mine."**

**ItachixSakura**

**Rated M**

**A/N: So I considered not updating again just from the standpoint that I feel like you guys will hate me forever anyways and rightfully so. It destroys me when authors don't update in a long time and I can't say I have a great reason for it. I've had writers block, and been really busy, I'm going to college soon and had to get all that fun stuff squared away. But really I could have pushed myself to update sooner than _this_. Anyways, I really hope you guys aren't mad enough to kill, so without further ado here's the latest chapter of Cherry Weasel!**

**Cherry Weasel**

**Understanding**

The past few days went by in a blur. Itachi barley stopped to rest, and he took soldier pills in lieu of eating. His mind stayed only on the thought of having his eyes healed by the ever slumbering woman in his nimble arms. She awoke a few times, but only seconds passed until he put her under again, it wasn't worth having to put up with her anger at this point, there would be plenty of time for that later.

_Later..._after she healed his eyes, then he would put up with her anger for hours, it was actually quite erotic. Flashes of pink hair and heavy breaths crossed his mind as Itachi thought back to when she oh so daringly challenged him back at the hospital, it was all he could do not to take her against the wall right then and there.

Her lithe body pressing against his firmly in defiance, her face red with anger and eyes flashing. He was sure, under her light green scrubs, that her breasts would be heaving in her raw state, and it made him think of a few different reasons he could get her reacting that way. His grip on the younger woman tightened and he looked down with an indifferent face.

She lay limply, sunken into a black world of sleep. He didn't let her dream, but he also didn't put her under his torturous jutsu. Her hair was disheveled from her bun and trailed behind the two, whipping around her captor with a silky touch. She felt sturdy in his arms, not heavy, but obviously toned, as a good ninja should be.

Long lashes, dark pink-he noted with a slight smirk, fell gracefully against her cheek and he almost wished for her to awaken in order for him to see the green they hid. He adjusted her in his arms and pushed off another tree branch with his powerful muscles. A light bark was heard at his feet, and he saw a small ball of fur jump with him. The dog, Akihiko, had found and followed him since the third day, clearly attached to his master in more ways than one. Itachi had assumed it would have dropped from exhaustion, but it hadn't. Though, he had been giving it water and soldier pills every once in a while, thinking that perhaps if he let the medic's nin-dog live, she would be more willing in healing him.

And it wouldn't be long now, they were almost back to the base.

Sakura felt anger bubbling under her skin, but was unable to release it on her captor. Every so often she could feel herself pulled closer to consciousness, but was roughly caught by red eyes and forced down into the black that was her life for the past week or so.

She wasn't sure just how long she had been under, but from the little she knew about the Sharingan, she estimated based on the amount of times she had almost regained consciousness it had been about nine days.

She knew Akihiko was with them, she could feel her nin-dog through their chakra bond, and knew Itachi had been giving him some sort of sustenance. And though she couldn't figure out why, Sakura was glad to know her pup was safe.

Quite frankly, aside from her rage at Itachi, her second most powerful feeling was boredom. She didn't dream, she wasn't awake, and most of the time she was floating around unaware, but the times she was aware, all she could do was think, and that got boring after hours and hours a day, for over a week.

_When are we gonna get there?_ She thought to herself, expecting an answer from her Inner personality, but alas, she didn't even have herself for company. Sakura's inner self had since up and left, as soon as the real Sakura had grown into the woman she was now. It got lonely inside her own mind, with no one to talk to. _Geez_, the woman thought again, _I sound like a schizophrenic._

Once again Sakura felt herself nearing the surface, but decided not to claw her way there as the many times before. Itachi would just be there to shove her back down again anyways.

_I'll fucking kill him._

* * *

><p>Itachi knew Sakura would be awakening soon, but they were so close to the base now it didn't matter. It took a good hour for her to regain any sort of functionality and they would arrive roughly then.<p>

He sped up, closing in on the last stretch, happy with his time. They were going to the main base now, and Itachi was looking forward to sleeping in his own bed. The medic would be staying there indefinitely, with no worries from any of them. The main Akatsuki base was the most protected place in all of the five nations, there was no way she could escape. Hell, if Itachi was a prisoner there, even he probably wouldn't be able to escape.

The base was sealed with the chakra of every member, past and present, and only a person containing or surrounded by one of those chakras could come and go. Even objects couldn't go into the base unless they had at least a thin layer of one of the member's chakra surrounding them, let alone people.

The two ninja were both soaking with the rain that fell every day from the nation's skies, a jutsu leftover from Pein. Itachi wasn't completely sure how it lasted after his death, but he didn't questions it, glad for the extra security of the chakra sensing rain that alerted the base when people entered their territory.

For the most part, the Sharingan wielder was safe from the rain, thanks to his cloak and wide-brimmed hat, but the kunoichi was drenched. He spared another glance to the medic and shrugged it off, a little rain never killed anyone, and the Uchiha wasn't soft hearted enough to care.

* * *

><p>The pair were a mere half mile away from the base when Sakura woke up with a vengeance. Her mesmerizing eyes snapped open and her previously relaxed body tensed like a board.<p>

"Aa," Is all the man holding her was able to get out before she started to struggle with all she had.

"AA! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU MEAN, "AA!" LET ME DOWN RIGHT NOW YOU KIDNAPPING BASTARD!" Sakura screamed in his ear and thrashed left and right, trying to free herself. Akihiko, seeing his mistress struggle, lept into action as well, gnawing at the seasoned ninja's ankles. Itachi slowed his blinding run, as the two of them were throwing him off.

"Be still kunoichi."

"Fucking let me down!" She yelled again, freeing one of her hands and grabbing his shirt in a threatening way, "C'mon Uchiha, I'll fucking kill you!" She yelled again, freeing her other hand and holding the collar of his cloak, almost pulling herself up.

Itachi shook her and grabbed her smaller hands with one of his own, using the other one to support her around her thighs, keeping her still. The two heard a yip and growl of anger from the small dog, and the pink haired vixen looked for a split second, relief washing over her once again at knowing that Akihiko was safe.

"Such language," was all her captor said, before pulling her closer to his body in an effort to still the woman. Seeing the entrance he continued on his way at a slow, leisurely walk.

"You're such a shitty kidnapper!" the petit woman yelled in his ears, growling her words, "You didn't even bother to tie me, to bound my hands? You Uchiha and your arrogance, it's unbelievable!"

Itachi lifted a graceful eyebrow, "Is that was you like, Sakura-san? To be tied up?" His cool, velvet voice made her pause, but she didn't react embarrassed, as he would have guessed.

"Fuck you, you-"

"Besides," he interrupted her, "You agreed to come with me and heal my eyes, I'm not your kidnapper," he looked ahead, closing in on the entrance to his base, "Not this time at least."

"Yeah right. I never agreed to heal your eyes," her words made him pause outside of the door and she used his distracted look to shove off of him with chakra laced hands, falling roughly onto the ground.

"You did."

Sakura stayed on her ass, unable to stand as she had been curled up in his arms for over a week, and her legs weren't complying with her, "No, I didn't. I said I'd go with you, I never said I'd heal your eyes."

Her smug smirk irritated the Uchiha prodigy, annoyed at being made a fool and he grabbed her lightning quick, slamming her wet body harshly against the base's metal door.

"You will heal my eyes," he growled, his hot breath fanning across her moist face, pinkened in anger.

"Yeah, 'cause demanding it really worked last time. If you recall, two weeks of being tortured didn't get me to agree, _and_ I escaped." Sakura taunted the man pressing her painfully against the steel door and grinned like a cheshire cat.

"Hn." Itachi didn't take the bait though, regaining control over himself after his outburst. _I'm tired, _he reasoned with himself, _no point taking it out on her and ruining the plan._

The broader man let his prey fall from the wall, holding her up and supporting her with as little touching as possible.

"Come," was his only demand.

"Let me walk by myself," came her retort. Sakura knew she was much too weak to try and escape, she could at least save herself some humiliation and walk on her own.

"You can't," was his reply, "Besides, I need to cover you with my chakra in order for you to get in alive."

Sakura looked at him, her mouth slightly agape, already putting the pieces together. If she needed to be coated in his chakra to go in, then that meant the same to leave, she would be trapped.

"N-No! Absolutely not!"

"Unfortunately, kunoichi," Itachi roughly shoved her forward and picked up the Inuzuka pup, placing it into her arms all while keeping a hold on her upper arm, "You don't have a say in the matter."

Before she could reply, Sakura felt his silky essence wrap around her body like a second skin. The intimate feeling of being entirely surrounded by the man brought an angry blush to her face. His chakra traced every dip and curve of her body and she knew he could feel it almost as if it were his hands. It wasn't the first time she had been in a situation where another's chakra had covered her, but the others were significantly more, ehem, _private_, with Neji.

_Damn dominating men._

Itachi could feel her angry embarrassment rolling off her in waves through his chakra. It was a weird feeling to be covering someone so expressive, as his chakra on her body enabled him to feel what she felt. She didn't protest after he surrounded her, which gave him reason to think she had done so before. His dangerous eyes narrowed, just who had she let cover her with chakra before? Memories of what he had seen in her bedroom a night before he took her made his chakra flare slightly, alerting the woman to his displeasure.

"Something bothering you Uchiha-san?" Her voice was sarcastic and biting, just annoying enough to ground him to the world.

"Hn."

The two walked forward without further ado, through the door he opened and past the barrier that would have kept her out without him. As soon as the door closed, Sakura yanked her arm away from his grasp, and he didn't resist.

* * *

><p>The young woman was glad to be free of the man once they crossed the threshold. The feeling of his tingling chakra was a little too personal for her comfort, it brought up memories past and she was afraid he would figure out what she was thinking about. The man let her go without a second glance, and she took in her surroundings. They were in a long, narrow hallway, enough room for them to walk shoulder to shoulder, but not much more than that.<p>

Itachi gave her a look that clearly said "follow me and don't do anything you'll regret" and walked ahead of her, knowing she had nowhere else to go but straight ahead.

* * *

><p>The second Itachi, followed by a much stabler Sakura, entered the base, the three members that occupied the base at the time came out of their respective rooms and met them in the living room.<p>

"Sakura-channn!" Tobi exclaimed, excited to see the woman from before, "Tobi has been a good boy, can we play hide and seek again!" He ran up and glomped onto the medic-nin, engulfing her in a bear-hug.

Deidara and Kisame looked at the masked man and then to their Sharingan wielding leader. They had yet to inform him that the petal-haired woman had tricked the boy into letting her go by pretending to play hide and seek, and they didn't want to let him know now.

But Itachi was ignoring the two and instead turned to his subordinates, "Kisame, show the woman her room, Konan's old one, she'll be staying with us for an extended period of time." The blue man looked to his leader and ex-partner strangely, but nodded in the affirmative, "Deidara, show her around afterwards." The blond nin looked at his charge and grinned like Naruto.

"Will do!"

Itachi looked toward the hall that lead to his bedroom with a longing in his dark eyes, before turning once again to the rosette. He stepped toward her and stood, looking down silently at the woman who had to crane her ivory neck to glare up at him. She looked into his gaze powerfully, figuring that since she was already here, and of use to him, she didn't have to fear his eyes. Itachi took in her stance, feet shoulder width apart and arms crossed. She resembled her mentor as she watched him with calculating eyes. Suddenly, before anyone could react, he reached out and grabbed her wrist, sending forth a burst of energy into her delicate flesh.

"Hey!" She cried out in anger, a sharp pain cut the inside of her wrist and she tried to pull away, but Itachi held fast. He lifted her by her injured wrist and a thin line of blood traveled down her lily-white skin. He brought her wrist to his face, opened his hand and nodded, before dropping the appendage. Sakura pulled her wrist closer to her body, healing the pain in less than a second and glaring at him.

Itachi drew closer to the pink-haired vixen, "With that, on top of you not being able to escape, I'll know where you are whenever I want, even if you mask your chakra," her eyes widened before turning to emerald slits, "I will know that because the second you entered here" he bent lower, pressing his seductive lips against the shell of her ear, "You became mine."

Satisfied with his message, Itachi towered to his full height, leaving the room and a flustered medic behind, who couldn't help but think that he just might have meant she was his, in a way aside from his doctor.

* * *

><p>"Okay..." Kisame broke the awkward tension that followed the scene he was almost positive he wasn't suppose to see, and looked toward the woman in front of him who was inspecting her wrist. She was filthy, clad in scrubs that looked like they might have been green once, but were cut up and coated in mud and leaves. Her pink hair looked dirty from days out in the woods and she was dripping wet. "You wanna see where you'll be staying?"<p>

"He fucking branded me!" Was the only response he got, as she held up her wrist angrily. There, in what looked like black ink, as if it were a tattoo, was the Uchiha crest, Itachi's name written in kanji inside the lower half of the circle. "What type of asshat brands someone!"

"Whats an asshat, Sakura-chan?" Tobi's innocent voice spoke out for the first time since he hugged the woman.

"It's what Uchiha-san is, among many other things," Came her tort reply.

Kisame lumbered forward, taking a closer look at the ninja's wrist before giving a half-laugh, "Well, it looks like he really wants his eyes healed." She rolled her jade orbs and motioned him forward.

"No shit," she said and followed the man, feeling both Tobi and Deidara follow close behind her.

Kisame lead her through the huge base, pointing out places of interest one by one, the kitchen, dining room, living room, laundry, they even had a library, which undoubtedly sparked her interest. Finally the four came to a plain closed door a bit aways from their own rooms around the corner and down the hall, and Kisame let her open it, entering her new residence.

"So, this is where Konan lived?" She turned back to the men behind her and watched them give each other a weird look.

"Yeah, well, some of the time anyway."

Sakura didn't question it, as most knew about the origami artist's relationship with the former leader of Akatsuki right after his death, "So, where does she live now? Naruto said she left after Pein's and his fight." Her question was met by shrugs, clearly they had no idea. Sakura looked around the room, taking in the queen sized bed, dresser, nightstand and desk. It was pretty much empty and bare, it actually looked a lot like her room at home in that respect. A single window showed the outside world, but Sakura didn't give escape a second thought, as she could see it lead to the training ground in the middle of the base, that was enclosed by the barrier as well.

Kisame was telling her a little about the room, how she could do whatever she liked with it, and to not worry about making a lot of noise if she was redecorating because they slept down the hall so they probably wouldn't hear it, but Sakura tuned him out the second her eyes landed on the bathroom.

"Please tell me that works," She pointed and started walking forward to check it out, "The shower, does it get water since the room is unused?" The guys snickered and Deidara butted in,

"It works, yeah. But you'll need some towels." Sakura practically kissed the man, she was so elated with the idea of being clean.

"Where can I get those?" She asked, "And clean clothes, for that matter." She stunk to the high heavens, but naturally she had no clothing since she didn't have time to pack, obviously.

"I'll get Sakura-chan a towel!" Tobi yelled and left in a blur of orange and black, leaving the two missing-nin with the Leaf.

"Konan never came back after Pein died," Kisame said, "You can wear her things from the closet and drawers, until we can get you something more suitable." Just then, Tobi came back and presented her with a couple black towels.

Sakura barley said 'thank you' before she shoved the men out of her room and rushed for the bathroom to wash the grime from her body.

* * *

><p>He could hear them leave her room minutes after entering it, pushed out by a woman desperate to shower. He could hear the small movements of her putting things down before another door closed and the light sound of water was heard.<p>

Itachi laid on his bed, eyes closed and arms behind his head supporting it. He was still in his dirty clothes from when he left Konoha, but right now he didn't have the energy or will power to go shower. Nine days traveling at top speed with only soldier pills, while carrying an unconscious kunoichi would have been enough, but having to put her under with his Sharingan every few days and spending a month sleeping outside waiting for the perfect time to get her was the icing on the cake. Even the infamous Uchiha Itachi gets worn out at some point.

He opened his weary eyes and sat up, shifting muscular legs over the edge of his bed. The man removed his dirty and torn shirt and stood briefly to take his pants off as well, getting comfortable. He lay in his bed and listened to the soft sound of the medic showering.

* * *

><p>Warm water slid down Sakura's back like sensual fingers. Streams of soap left her waist-length pink hair as the water finally ran clear. She tilted her plump pink lips toward the steady jet of water and almost moaned in ecstasy. The feeling of being <em>clean<em> again was like none other. She had popped a soldier pill in her mouth right before climbing into the shower, apparently Itachi hadn't taken everything in the medical pouch attached to her thigh under her loose scrubs.

_My scalpels are missing though..._the young medic lamented, _they were really expensive. _Turning the water off Sakura grabbed the towels Tobi had given her, wrapping her long hair in one and the other around her petit body, tucking it under her supple breasts. All she could think of was sleeping, and how great that bed looked like. She wearily pulled out a pair of underwear from the bureau, feeling weird about wearing an ex-Akatsuki's intimates, and followed it by a huge shirt.

Akihiko climbed up onto the bed, tired as can be, curled into a ball and fell fast asleep. As stupid as it was to let her guard down at the S-ranked criminal's main base, the rosette didn't care at the moment. They, Itachi, clearly needed her for something, so for right now, she was safe.

* * *

><p>Only a few hours passed before Itachi woke up from his slumber. It seemed like the only time he could sleep was when he was dead on his feet; as soon as he had the smallest amount of sleep possible the pain behind his eyes woke him up.<p>

Grumbling, the man swung his legs around to the side of the bed, not being one to laze around. Pulling the tie from his low ponytail Itachi walked to the shower and climbed in under the hot water.

Weeks of dirt fell away from his toned body and down the drain; soap and shampoo quickly followed suit. The pain behind and in his eyes almost always unbearable, but his overuse of them the last few days was simply excruitating. All he could think of was the woman in the next room who had the power to heal him.

He imagined her small hands on his face, taking the pain away and reverting the damage of years past. Her chakra would invade his body much like how his had covered hers on the way in the base. She would give him his sight back better than before and he wouldn't have to self medicate for the pain.

Itachi imagined seeing again, of opening his eyes to find her bending over him, healing him. Her silky pink hair surrounding him like a curtain, plump lips pressed together in concentration, breasts bound but oh, so close to his face.

Itachi shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Somehow he drifted from thoughts of her healing to thoughts of, well, _her_.

Sakura, with her long, lean legs and flat stomach. Her supple breasts and her delicate neck he longed to bite, mark and claim. The inside of one of her wrists, he smirked, was already marked by him.

_Claimed_. Like a predatory beast he had put his emblem on her, telling everyone else to stay away, for she belonged to the great Uchiha Itachi. A reminder to them, and to her, that until he decided he was done, she wouldn't be going anywhere.

_But she'll try_, he thought to himself, _she'll fight me down to the last breath to get away and that's half the fun. She'll fight until she accepts that she wants it as bad as I do and only then will I take her. I'll make her beg, make her regret fighting what she needs. But until that moment..._Itachi lost himself in his thoughts, creating a little problem he had to take care of.

Sighing, the man turned the water on cold, upset that after his lifetime he still found himself being worked up over the thought of a woman, even if it was only this one.

* * *

><p>Some time later, a dried and clothed Itachi knocked on the medic-nin's door, hoping to begin convincing her to heal his eyes. He took a half step back and stood patiently, waiting for her to answer it. He was silent, but couldn't hear her move inside the room. He knocked once more, a slight scowl on his handsome face, but again she didn't respond.<p>

"Sakura-san," Itachi's voice was strong and sure, demanding she open the door. He followed with three more loud knocks before hearing some shuffling around inside.

The door began to open, revealing Sakura with bed head and rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Uchiha," she managed to deadpan while still half asleep, "Why in Kami's name are you banging on the door?"

"I want you to heal my eyes."

Sakura yawned and rubbed her face once more, "And why would I do that?"

Itachi, though his face was impassive, felt anger bubble up inside him, "Because, kunoichi, the Akatsuki are no longer a threat to your village. We disband our hunt for the tailed beasts once Pein died and I took over. We're merely bounty hunters now."

"Not a threat to my village? Then why did you take the head of the hospital? Don't you think that maybe some people are relying on me to, uh, I don't know, save their lives?"

"Your mentor and fellow student are there, you aren't the only one. They'll be fine."

"True, but that doesn't make the fact that you kidnapped me any less real."

"You agreed to come with me."

Sparks flew in the pink haired woman's eyes, "Because you were holding a _baby!_ A baby, Uchiha! Do you think I would deny you anything if you were holding a child!" She opened the door more and stepped out to meet him, "Just because I'm here doesn't mean I'm going to do anything you demand!"

"Unless I'm holding a baby, right?" He smirked slightly and Sakura deflated.

"Fuck you, Uchiha." Itachi stepped closer but Sakura held her ground, not to be intimidated by the man in front of her.

"I think you mean Uchiha_-san_, kunoichi." She smiled, proud of herself that she managed to annoy him.

"I don't, actually," Sakura crossed her arms, "Calling you that would imply some form of respect."

"Calling me Uchiha simply implies some form of familiarity," the tall man leaned down, invading her space, but Sakura refused to flinch, "Unless familiarity is what you want, then by all means."

Sakura felt her back go ridged at both his words and the hot breath on her face. She didn't step back, though she did lean away from him a little, and that's all the Uchiha needed.

"Is that what you want, Sakura-san? To be familiar with me?" Itachi asked, stepping toe to toe with the smaller woman, leaning into her. He could see her face, trying to mimic an impassive one but the way her eyes darted and her breath hitched betrayed how uncomfortable she was.

"No. I don't." Her voice was much stronger than he expected and he lazily reached for her wrist, pulling it up to inspect it.

"You will," he sounded so sure of himself, "soon you'll be calling me Itachi, if you can even say that." He followed his silky words by pressing her marked wrist to his lips. Not a kiss, rather an acknowledgment.

It was the straw that broke the camels back.

"_Uchiha!_" She yelled, walking backwards and pushing him away from her with chakra laced hands, "Get the fuck away from me you freak!"

Itachi only came closer, kicking the door closed and looking at her with predatory eyes. The same eyes a cat gives a mouse before killing it; he was playing with her. He watched her face brighten at his not-so-subtle implication and how she backed up as soon as he got closer. Her tough act gone momentarily as she tried to process the man in front of her.

He watched her back up, her long legs ready to spring into attack. He took note of how uncovered they were, and wondered if she was wearing anything under the shirt at all.

It was then that he took in the shirt she was wearing, and the predatory playfulness left his face, replaced by anger.

* * *

><p>Sakura backed up, planning her escape from this man in front of her. She couldn't leave the base, that was for sure, but one of them had to get out of this room. He was coming after her with a gleam in his eye that she didn't like.<p>

_Whoever said Uchiha Itachi was an emotionless, asexual and silent man was dead wrong! He's teasing me! The fucker is actually trying to get a rise outta me. _

Sakura watched as he approached her, obviously trying to freak her out. He looked at her legs, watching her movements, until his gaze landed on her upper body. He froze and the look of desire left his features, replaced by one of contempt.

All was silent between the two until, "Whats your game, Uchiha? Torture didn't work, so now you're gonna rape me until I agree?" She didn't realize the possibility until the sentence left her mouth and a cold shiver entered her veins.

"Where did you get that shirt?" Was all he said, eyes glued to the big tee she had put on to sleep in.

"W-what?" It threw her off, she just accused him of trying to violate her and he comments on her shirt?

"Where," his voice was icy, "did you get that shirt?"

"I don't know!" her voice returned to her, "I found it! Kisame-san said I could wear whatever I found in there!" She pointed to the bureau behind her.

"Take it off." His voice was soft and emotionless.

"No. If you're gonna do that then I'm not making it any easier for you." The young woman sealed herself off from her emotions and crouched into a fighting stance.

* * *

><p>Itachi's veins were so fueled by anger that her words weren't even getting through to him. All he wanted in the world was that man's shirt <em>off of Sakura<em>. He flashed back to when he last saw that shirt, it was on his "Leader-sama's" body, the leader behind the leader of the Akatsuki. Madara. The man who took everything from him, who enslaved him to this organization and tried to kill his younger brother.

Sakura continued to talk to him as he demanded for her to remove it, and it was only when he saw her get into a defensive stance that he heard and understood her words. She thought he was going to _rape_her to get her to heal his eyes.

"Sakura-san," he took a subtle breath to calm himself, "I am not going to hurt you." She didn't loosen up, though her eyes held question in them for him. She didn't trust him, though who would trust the man behind the Uchiha Massacre?

"That shirt," he watched her eyes flick down to the giant shirt on her petit body, "belonged to Madara."

* * *

><p>Sakura all but ran into the bathroom and ripped the shirt off her body. She threw it to the ground, eyes on fire and chest heaving with terror and disgust.<p>

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" She screamed at the man through the door she had kicked closed. "Why is his shirt even in here? That vile creature, did he stay here? Did he sleep here?" The woman threw a miniature tantrum, disgusted that she wore the shirt of the mass killer, perhaps slept in the bed he slept in.

"He stayed here once or twice, yes," Itachi's voice came through the door, much calmer now, "But not in this room. Someone must have found the shirt and threw it in here since it wasn't being used."

Sakura pressed her hand to her naked chest, feeling her racing heart.

"Well good! I'm not about to stay where _he_ did."

All was silent on the other side of the door, though the medic knew he was still standing there. Waiting for her to say something. She sat with her back to the wood, thinking of all the information she had on Uchiha Madara, of her S-rank mission.

**Flashback:**

"_I have to tell you a few things you're not going to like to hear," _Sakura remembered Tsunade's words right after she was returned after her first kidnapping, _"It is a long story, one you already know, but the true version; known only to seven people in this world. The two head elders, myself, the Third, Naruto, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Madara..." _

Sakura remembered her disbelief, fright, sadness, and raw fury at the story. How could the village have done that to such a young boy? How could they demand the death of an entire clan?

"_I need for you to listen to me, Sakura, for what I'm about to say is very important," _Tsunade had said, right before giving her an S-rank assignment, _"Itachi will come back for you, he needs his eyes healed and though you'll try to get away, he will take you. You're good but he's strong, stronger than me, stronger that any of the Kage's. We don't know him anymore, he may hurt you again he may end up killing you. You may do it your own way in your own time but before the end, you need to heal his eyes." _

Sakura had mixed feelings about that. This man had been trying to kill her best friend for years, he had killed his entire family and destroyed her past teammate. But only...it was a mission. One he had no choice in, no say in the matter. Either he killed them all, knowing he could save his brother and himself, or someone else would be assigned to kill all of them.

"_I know this is going to be difficult for you, to heal the man you were taught to hate, who is said to have killed his entire clan without reason. That's why I'm giving you free reign on how to do so. But you have to do it. Heal his eyes, bring him to our side Sakura." _

"_But why? Why must I heal him? He's so dangerous and I-"_

"_Because we need him. If you heal him he'll be stronger than even now and we need him Sakura."_

"_What does the village need with Uchiha Itachi? What else could the Leaf possibly need from him, after that assignment?"_

"_Because Uchiha Madara is coming back."_

**End flashback.**

"Where is he now?" Itachi heard her voice, much softer than before, come through the wooden door.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "We lost track of him after the last battle. But he's out there."

She spoke once more, "Will you go after him?"

Itachi sat pensively on the floor. Would he go after him? Yes, yes he would. He couldn't allow a man such as Madara so roam free on the earth.

"I will."

It was a promise, one to her, to himself, and unconsciously to the Leaf village as well. Sakura sat on the floor, still, deep in thought. She didn't like being captured, manhandled and trapped in the Akatsuki base. She didn't like how he could overpower her so easily, or the way his velvet words made her heart do backflips. She didn't like how she had been taught to hate him, and suddenly was thrown into a loop with the true story of the Uchiha Massacre.

But a stronger part of her felt such pity for this man on the other side of her. The man that gave everything up to save his village, his brother and be a loyal shinobi. Who fled and had to live life on the run, his name smeared all for the sake of other people. The killer, the savior, the martyr, Jiraiya's secret informant. The man behind the emotionless mask; Uchiha Itachi.

Putting aside the fact that she was technically on a mission, and she _needed_ to heal him for the sake of defeating Madara, Sakura still wanted to give him his sight back. He deserved kindness, somehow, through some way, from the Leaf. After what those Elders did to him, he deserved retribution. Her natural drive to heal him both physically as well as emotionally ran deep and strong after hearing his story from her mentor; but only after she saw his hatred for Madara first hand, through seeing a shirt of his, did she make her decision.

Sakura slowly stood up, and opened the door to peek outside of it, hiding her underwear-clad body behind the door. Itachi was sitting with his back to her a foot or so to her left, his muscled arm holding a shirt out for her. She grabbed it and put the warm cloth on, happy to have something to cover herself with.

"I'll do it."

She waited for his response, his victory dance or something, but the man sat still where he was before. At least he knew not to throw a party over his win.

"It's going to take a lot of time," she warned, "but since we're both going after the same guy, I'll do it." Sakura had long since decided not to tell him she knew the real story, the real reason why she was going to heal him. That was a fact she wanted to keep to herself, at least for the time being. Who knows how he could react to the knowledge that his secret was out.

Picking up the offensive shirt she had previously thrown off, Sakura walked out the door and to the window. She could feel his eyes as well as Akihiko's from the bed on her person as she opened the window and threw the garment outside to the training grounds.

"I'm burning that when I go out." Were her clipped words and she self-consciously hugged crossed her arms, seeing him get up to leave out of the corner of her eye.

"Hn."

The now stoic man started for her door and had it half opened before turning back to her. His next words caused the woman to actually turn and face him for the first time since coming out of the bathroom.

"And to answer your question from before, Sakura-san," his onyx eyes bore deep into her own, "I would never harm a woman that way." She didn't know why but for some reason she believed him. He wouldn't violate her, as she had accused him of before.

Just as Sakura was about to respond, she realized his current state of undress. The shirt he had given her to replace Madara's, the warm one, she realized had come from his own body.

Uchiha Itachi stood shirtless in her doorway in all his toned, muscled glory, making nice with her, while she was wearing his clothing.

Sakura could feel her face turn pink and forced her eyes up at his face. Itachi saw what she had realized, smirking to himself. The beautiful vixen standing in front of him, pink face to match her long pink hair, clad only in his t-shirt sputtered to find words, angered at his actions. He suddenly appeared in front of her, a hand reaching out to hold onto a few strands of her hair, warmth radiating off of his body onto hers.

"Though that doesn't mean that you're not going to be under me, screaming my name at some point, Sakura-san." He promised, bending low to speak seductively into her ear, "Because believe me, you will. You'll just be screaming for more."

With that the Uchiha left the room quickly, before Sakura could gather her wits and beat him out. The door closed and he heard her explode,

"The _audacity_ of you Uchiha!"

The man in question just walked away, figuring that was enough excitement for today. And when they were both on their own, the two shinobi couldn't help but feel like some sort of agreement had been reached.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So how'd you like it? I know it wasn't worth a wait _that_ long, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. I'm on vacation now and I have just about everything ready for college so hopefully I won't do anything like that ever again. In fact I'm about 90% done with another chapter! I'll update as soon as I can (I don't have internet so I've been writing at home and I'll upload at the library). I'd love reviews from you guys, and again I'm reallllllly sorry about the wait. **

**Regardless, I love all of you!**

**Your most appreciative author,**

**Vera **

"It's not that I've been dishonest it's just that I loath reality,"

-Lady Gaga


	7. Healing

**Since the dawn of time the Uchiha have put friends and enemies alike under a spell with their Sharingan. But what happens when a certain medic unknowingly puts the Uchiha prodigy under a spell with her own mesmerizing eyes? "I will have her," he said possessively, "She's mine."**

**ItachixSakura**

**Rated M**

**A/N: I started working on this one before I even uploaded the other chapter, so hopefully that sort of makes up for the fact that I didn't upload anything at all in forever -_- well anyways, here you go!**

**PS: To answer some questions, as some of you were confused: Sakura got her assignment to heal Itachi's eyes right after she got back from escaping him (re-read the flashback and it'll explain why). **

**No, there won't be a love triangle between Sakura, Itachi and Deidara, 'cause as much as I liked other stories with that, it's overdone. **

**I think that's it! I'll try to respond to your questions directly in general but I don't have internet and I'm checking reviews via my cell so it's a little hard to type a long email back.**

**Love you all!**

**Cherry Weasel**

**Healing**

As soon as Itachi had made his grand exit, Sakura fell back into bed and slept the rest of the day away with her nin-dog on her chest. She was hungry beyond belief but knew she couldn't go out there and face the rest of the Akatsuki as over tired as now. Better to at least be alert and hungry than un-alert and satiated.

She didn't know how long she had been asleep for when her hunger pains finally woke her up. The rosette stretched and yawned, cracking her neck and pulling her long mussed up hair into a bun.

"Food."

She found some pants in Konan's drawers that fit her moderately well, the older kunoichi had been a bit taller than her, and bound her breasts before pulling a different shirt back over her head. No way in hell were the other Akatsuki members going to see her walking around in Itachi's shirt.

Padding down the halls in her bare feet with Akihiko at her side the woman recalled the memory of where the kitchen was and headed in that direction. Peering around the corner she thankfully found it empty. Reaching the fridge she was surprised to find it well stocked and pulled out sandwich makings. Being a ninja, she knew how important it was to keep up her strength, but being a medic she also knew if she ate too much too fast after the time she had been only eating soldier pills, she would get violently sick.

After fixing a turkey sandwich she grabbed a glass of water for herself and bowl of water for Akihiko and settled down at the long table in front of her. Munching on her food, trying to savor it, she pulled out a small notebook from what was left in her medical pouch to begin to take notes on what she would need to do for Itachi.

Without even examining him, she knew it was going to be a lot of hard work. Kakashi only had one Sharingan, he wasn't an Uchiha and that had been hard enough as is. Itachi is the proud owner of two Sharingan, developed as far as possible, overused, and overworked. It was going to take a lot of time to fix the connections and the eyes themselves, only when that was done could she reattach them and give him his perfect sight back again.

At the very least, right now, she could lessen the pain he was sure to be experiencing. Kakashi described it as being stabbed by a thousand tiny, re-hot kunai in the eye. She couldn't imagine what this man could be feeling in comparison to that.

Lost in thought, the medic didn't acknowledge the other person who entered the room, though the pup by her side lifted his pure while head and growled.

"You're a little too comfortable here, kunoichi," The booming voice said, "You're still captured by the enemy."

Sakura didn't even turn around, "That may be true Kisame-san, but if you guys wanted me dead I already would be, would I not?"

The older man didn't respond, but she could hear the fridge opening and a few bottles being taken out. Something whizzed through the air and Sakura caught it on reflex, looking up to see she was holding a bottle of sake.

"You thirsty?"

She eyed it warily, "That depends on what type of sake you have," she answered.

Kisame guffawed, "You think I'd buy shit when I have the money for the good stuff? Take a cup and pour us some."

Sakura did as he told, if only because she needed a drink as badly as he did. The two sat side by side, his immense form dwarfing her much more petit, and _human_, one. Not until a few drinks had been consumed did they strike up a conversation.

"So, you're gonna heal Itachi's eyes?" Kisame looked down at the younger woman.

"Yeah, I've decided to."

"Pht, you _decided_ to? You mean he convinced you right?" Kisame wiggled his brows, "How'd he manage to do that?"

"You wish, pervert," Sakura delivered a punch to his huge arm, "I decided to of my own volition. I'm getting something out of it too," she gave him a look when he winked at her, "_No_, not that. We're after the same guy so I figured I could use all the help I could get considering how strong he is."

Kisame gave her a look of understanding, no one wanted to speak the name but they both knew who she was talking about.

_Madara._

"Ever since Pein died and Konan up and left," Kisame began, "we settled down. We're not the same organization we were before. You could call us bounty hunters, we do the same work really, but in a more legal way."

Sakura nodded, understanding and having heard so before, both from Itachi as well as Tsunade.

"But our main goal really is to find out any and all information on...him and his whereabouts, and when possible, take him down."

"Then Konoha and the Akatsuki have a lot in common then don't they?" Sakura asked, "And now that Pein is gone, we both need all the help we can get."

Kisame made a noise of approval before pouring them both another drink. The woman looked at it, her vision blurring a little around the edges before shooting it down. Akihiko whined a bit and she picked him up, giving him bits of her food.

"Woah slow down kid, just 'cause its there doesn't mean you have to drink it. You anything like your mentor?"

"Yes," Sakura looked in the general area he was in, "except she can hold her liquor much better than I can."

Kisame sweat-dropped, since he knew the infamous Tsunade couldn't hold her liquor very well at all. "Maybe you should be done." He took the bottle away from her and she let it go willingly. No need to be a messy drunk.

"Yeah, probably."

The two of them sat in silence yet again, Kisame taking shot after shot and Sakura writing half-assed notes about the Sharingan. She wasn't aware how long they had sat when voices could be heard down the hall.

"But Tobi is a good boy, Dei-chan!"

"Shut up you annoying twat, yeah!"

"If you don't fucking close your fucking mouth I'll sacrifice you to Jashin!"

Sakura and Kisame turned toward the doorway at the same time to see Tobi walk in, proud as a peacock, followed closely by both Deidara and Hidan, who were absolutely fuming at the boy.

"Sakura-chan!" He squealed and sat down between her and the giant blue man, "I've missed you! I haven't seen you since yesterday!" His eyes landed on the ball of fur on her lap, "OOOHHH! PUPPY!" The man tried to pick up the nin-dog but received a sharp bite instead.

"Uh, yeah, Tobi-san," Sakura muttered awkwardly, looking to Kisame for help, "You too."

"Don't encourage him you wench!" Came Hidan's irrational voice, "He's just gonna do it more!"

"What, be polite?" The woman challenged, "Kami forbid someone here is fucking polite!" She cursed right back at him with a slight slur.

"Hey, I shared my sake with you Pinky!"

"Uh yeah we can tell Kisame," came Deidara's voice as he listened to the medic. "She can't drink for shit."

"Oh please I'm fine, give me one or two more and I won't be but I'm fine." The medic regained control of herself and sat back down, continuing to feed bits of her leftover sandwich to Akihiko.

"Fucking sacrifice you bitch," Hidan started to say before he saw the inside of her wrist and started to burst out laughing.

Sakura looked down at what he was staring at, only to be confronted once again by the possessive mark the Uchiha had placed onto her skin. Anger bubbled up within her and she considered revoking her decision to heal him.

"Should I be calling you Sakura-sama now? Or maybe Uchiha-san!" Hidan laughed again, pointing with his scythe.

"I'll kill you!" Was all the small woman got out before pouncing on the silver haired man before her. The two wrestled on the ground, each one trying to gain the upper hand, throwing punches and in Hidan's case, trying to stab the other.

"What? It's not my fuckin' fault Itachi turned out to be straight!" He continued to taunt her and she threw attacks left and right.

"Shut _UP_!" She roared and delivered a right hook to his immortal face.

"Woah, woah, woah there Little Leaf," Kisame caught the attacking woman and held her back as Hidan stood up, cracking his jaw back in place, "Hidan's just being a dumbfuck, ignore him."

"No, by all means, fucking continue," Hidan's eyes shone with a new light after being hit so hard, "It's sort of a turn on." His words seemed to sober the young medic up a bit and she stalked out of the room rolling her eyes, nin-dog at her heels.

Deidara and Tobi stared after her, terrified at her display of drunken fury.

"Yanno Hidan," Kisame informed the shorter man, "You shouldn't let Itachi hear you say those things about Pinky."

"And why the fuck not? The bitch is hot. I wouldn't mind doing the horizontal tango with her _any_day."

Kisame sighed at the immortals lack of common sense, "Because Itachi already doesn't like you, and have you ever heard of someone stealing what an Uchiha has claimed?" Hidan didn't respond but it was obvious his answer was no, "That's because anyone who was stupid enough to try, didn't live to brag about it."

"Boys are dumb, eh Akihiko-kun?" She picked up the Inuzuka dog and held him close to her heart, "All of them 'cept you that is. You're the only man I need!" Giving the small pup a kiss on his head Sakura made her way to the library.

_Aside from Naruto that is, and Kaka-sensei...I even miss Sai. Ah what the hell, I miss _all_ of the guys back home. _

Sakura sighed and entered the impressive library. She was taken back for a minute as she twirled around in a slightly tipsy state, looking at all the books.

"Impressive, huh Aki-kun?" The dog yipped in contentment and padded to the back of the library, finding a couch in front of an unlit fireplace and curling up to sleep.

The med-nin spent the next few hours processing the moderate amount of alcohol she had while picking out books to read. By the end of her literary adventure she had piled them all around her and picked through each one on her own time.

Laying down on the couch with Akihiko, Sakura could feel the discomfort in both of her shoulders, left over from her torture stint with Itachi in The Cell. She didn't enjoy other people touching her back in most cases, as most ninja feel, so she hadn't gotten it taken care of, since she couldn't reach all the way.

The rosette sighed and laid down on her stomach on the big couch, trying to get at the sore spots with her nimble fingers when her eyes landed on Akihiko.

"Can you walk on my back, using chakra?" She asked the dog and he understood her. Thanks to their chakra bond, Akihiko was able to understand humans. Though Akihiko couldn't talk at the moment, given his age, when he could Sakura knew she would know what he was saying, though she wasn't sure if other people could as well.

The white dog with the blue eyes jumped up on Sakura's back and gathered his minuscule chakra in his paws. The second he started walking Sakura could feel all the tension and pain from the torture and her stressful career just drip away. It hurt but nothing had felt better. The woman moaned in satisfaction and lost herself in her own little world.

Itachi had specifically stayed away from the little medic for the day since he saw her last, giving her a little space to let her get accustomed to the base. He knew where she was since she hadn't masked her chakra, not that it would hinder him if she did, due to her mark. He heard them all in the kitchen, getting acquainted. Rather, her drinking with Kisame and getting into a fight with Hidan.

Hidan. The man bothered him on multiple levels for many reasons. It wasn't just that he was a classless Jashinist, but also that he saw Itachi as a target, doing anything to rile him up. Hitting on Sakura, though, would prove to be the end of him if he continued. Itachi heard the words he spoke about his blossom, and it didn't make him happy. Fortunately for the immortal, they pissed Sakura off as well and she went at him, stopping Itachi from walking in to do the same.

Sakura...the woman confused him. She agreed to heal his eyes much quicker than he would have expected. She was tortured for two weeks and didn't budge, but now she's here less than a day and she agrees.

_She's getting something more out of this than my agreement to go after Madara._

He wasn't sure what it was, but he was going to find out. The imposing man changed his direction and headed to the library, planning to go in and find out what she's really after. He was about to walk in when he paused, hearing her bell-like voice.

"Mmm that feels so good, keep going."

Itachi paused and listened harder, cool fury began to build up in his system.

"Yeah right there, ouch! It hurts so good, harder!"

He mentally made a checklist of all the members in the base, wondering who he was going to have to kill for touching his possession. Itachi tried to keep his cool when her next words drifted out to him,

"Oh Kami this fixes everything that Uchiha did."

Itachi flew into action, how _dare_ she insult him in his own base, while going at it with one of his subordinates?

Itachi ran into the library blindingly fast and saw the couch at the back of the room facing away from him. The woman's dainty feet hung over the edge of the arm and he could hear moans of delight.

Not even pausing to think, Itachi ran to the couch, put his hands under it and flipped it over, causing the bodies to fall onto the ground, a grunt of outrage passing through his lips.

Sakura felt heavenly. The way Akihiko was working on the knots under her skin felt like nothing she had felt before. The woman had never gotten a massage before, constantly paranoid of a kunai in the back and too embarrassed to ask someone like Naruto to do it for her. But with her nin-dog, their chakra was sealed together and he was able to put the perfect amount of pressure on her aching back.

She told him he was doing good and to keep going, letting out a moan of satisfaction. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered smelling anger from somewhere but passed it off. She was trapped in the Akatsuki base, her sense of smelling emotions was going out of whack, considering how many crazies were living in this place.

It wasn't until she told Akihiko that he was taking all the pain away from Itachi's torture that she realized the anger was much closer, but by then it was too late to react. Someone flipped the couch she was laying on over, tossing her to the ground and Akihiko next to her.

Sakura caught the pup before he hit the ground too hard and immediately flew up to a fighting stance, expecting her attacker to be Hidan.

The bloody red eyes that assessed her with fury threw her off, "U-Uchiha? What the hell! What was that for you jerk?" She yelled at him, stepping around the couch and throwing her hands in the air in exasperation.

"Whose in here with you?" Came his clipped voice.

"What? What do you mean whose in here with me, nobody is they're all in the kitchen last time I checked!" The woman put her hands on her hips and stared the man down, looking into his dangerous eyes.

"What's your problem anyway? I just agreed to heal your eyes and now you're attacking me!" Itachi appeared in front of her, a black blur until he slammed her body against the stone fireplace.

"_Who_ _is in here with you?"_ His voice was deadly and his hands were on either of her shoulders, pinning her to the wall.

Just then, before the woman could answer, Akihiko crawled out from under the flipped couch and bit into Itachi's leg. The Uchiha didn't flinch but he did look down at the pup piercing the skin of his calf.

"Actually, I lied," her sarcastic voice called him to attention, "There was someone in the room with me. Akihiko. My nin-dog."

"Then what dare I ask, was all that moaning about?" Itachi deadpanned and Sakura turned a dusty shade of pink.

"Y-you heard that, what the hell Uchiha! It's your fault anyway!" Sakura pushed his arms off her shoulders but the two stayed in place. Itachi wanting to make her uncomfortable and Sakura refusing to retreat.

"Hn?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "From The Cell you imbecile. Akihiko was helping out because thanks to your unsuccessful torture my back and shoulders have been acting up." Sakura stuck her tongue out at him when he looked down at the dog, feeling much better about herself after doing do.

Itachi looked out of the corner of his eye and lifted a brow, "How old are you?"

"Shut up dickweed. Can I go now or are you going to interrogate me more?" Itachi moved marginally to the left, just enough room for Sakura to squeeze by, and she did, heading for the exit.

"Why don't you just give yourself one of those massages all the Konoha ANBU talk about?"

His words froze her and she spun around on her heel, eyes alight with fire.

"What did you say?"

"You know, when the ANBU knock on your door and you let them in to heal them and give them massages." Itachi's velvet voice was even and nonchalant, but they both knew what he was implying.

"Were you staking me out?" Sakura's tone had an edge of discomfort to it, though she hid it well, at finding out that he may have been stalking her.

"How else do you think I planned the perfect time to capture you?"

She exploded, "What! Where were you? How long were you following me you damn Uchiha!" Sakura flew in front of the man, her silky coral hair cocooning her body, surrounding her emerald eyes that were bright with indignation.

"Long enough," was his short reply.

"Long enough for _what_ exactly, Uchiha?"

"Long enough to know who your friends are, who you consider family," he said, and stepped toward her, pushing her backwards, "Long enough to know that the villagers call you "Sakura-hime-sama," that they worship you for your skills as well as your kindness." Sakura continued to back up, hands splayed behind her for balance, "Long enough to see how future clan heads see you as a valuable asset," Itachi nodded toward Akihiko and backed Sakura up into a bookshelf, "Long enough to know you overwork yourself and often fall asleep on the way home," Sakura scowled and was about to retort when Itachi pushed his muscular chest against her much softer one, placing his lips against her ear and effectively paralyzing the smaller woman, "Long enough to know that no often means yes, and that you like to be dominated."

Sakura's entire face, neck and chest turned a brilliant shade of red and she sputtered, trying to counteract what he had just said. Realizing what he had seen and putting two and two together Sakura figured it must have been him that let off that fit of fury outside her window, what she and Akihiko had smelled. The only thing that had stopped her from completely giving in to Neji and letting him take her for the night as he had so many times before.

"Y-You were there then? You were the one that-" Sakura cut herself off but Itachi finished her sentence for her,

"That_ interrupted_ you and the Hyuga?" Itachi's red eyes narrowed dangerously, "Yes. I was. He was touching you," Itachi ran a finger up the column of her neck where Neji had been pressing hot kisses.

"It's not like it would have been the first time," Sakura spat and slapped his hand away, enraged that her personal life had become a show for him. But her words only provoked the Uchiha prodigy and he held her hands at her side, pressing his lips on her collarbone.

"He was touching what was mine." Itachi spoke against her creamy skin, sending shivers up the pinkette's spine.

It would be a lie to say her heart wasn't racing and doing backflips, to say the man in front of her wasn't a complete _god_ and that it wasn't effecting her in the least. But even so Sakura managed to gather her wits and call forth chakra to her hands, breaking free from his own and pushing him backwards.

"I am _not _yours Uchiha!" She cried, still a vibrant red colour, "I'm your doctor and nothing more! Once I finish healing your eyes I'll be on my way and the only contact we'll have is if we see each other battling Madara. That's it."

Itachi smirked and captured her eyes with his, "I'll erase all thoughts of that Hyuga, Sakura-san, and when I do you'll never want to leave my side." Sakura wanted to roll her eyes but couldn't stop looking into his mesmerizing ones. "Konoha took everything from me, they won't take my last possession." He paused, realizing he had said too much and walked out the library door, leaving a very flustered Sakura behind.

_Kami, _Sakura thought to herself,_ Konoha's file on Uchiha Itachi is way off. They say he's emotionless, doesn't talk, doesn't act without thinking, a killing machine and nothing more. Well, so far I've seen none of that. He talks, converses, acts on how he feels, and aside from in The Cell, hasn't hurt me once. _Sakura blushed, thinking of how he had touched her. _No, he hasn't hurt me, quite the opposite actually. _

The woman flipped the couch back over and flopped down on it, Akihiko curling up on her stomach yet again.

"What do you think Aki-kun? A little crazy isn't it?" It was strange being here. Knowing that the man she was suppose to hate, who kidnapped her, was actually one of Konoha's strongest, most loyal shinobi.

_And he almost let that slip, too._ She thought of how he said Konoha had taken everything from him, and they had. The Elders, even the Third, and mostly Danzo. They had taken everything that boy had known and loved and turned it against him, made him turn them against himself. The whole village hated him, cursed his name, his own brother didn't know the truth.

"_They won't take my last possession." _His words rung in her ears and she didn't quite know how to take them. Did he see her as more than a doctor? Yes, that much was clear. But what? He called her his, acted as if she belonged to him, just a toy. Or as he so aptly put it "a possession" but was that all?

Sakura put her hands to her head, forcing soothing chakra into her temples. She was looking too deeply into this. What he saw was someone of value to Konoha and to himself, and figured that after they took everything of value to him away, he would take something they valued away.

It made sense, Sakura couldn't say she wouldn't want to do the same. A small revenge of sorts. He'll get his sight back and cause panic in the village that destroyed him. The woman felt her stomach drop at the thought, knowing that as much as she missed her home, that she had to stay here. She wasn't here so much for the mission anymore, but because she felt it was her duty to.

This man deserved some kind of retribution, and it wasn't the first time she thought so. If he saw her as that, then she would stay. That doesn't mean he could have his way with her, but if he was able to sacrifice the lives of his friends, family, fiance, his honor and name for the village, then she could sacrifice herself for him. Sakura felt it her duty to give something back to the man who had nothing left. She would heal his eyes first, and see where that led.

Though, if she was honest with herself, she could see where it might lead. The way her heart flipped when he looked at her, how a single touch could incase her whole body with flames. Knowing how self-sacrificing he had been at such a young age and seeing first hand his desire to keep protecting the village. All of that and more wrapped up in the body of a god? Well, it wouldn't be such a surprise if it went down that road. But the woman shook the thoughts out of her head and swore to keep her wits about her.

_No reason to lose my mind yet,_ she thought_, I still have a long time in this base with those other guys. I'm not sure whose gonna be the death of me first, Hidan or Tobi. _Sakura rolled her eyes and sat up from the couch, ready to grab a quick dinner and head off to bed.

Putting all the books away and leaving the room was more difficult than she thought it would be. If there's one thing she was grateful for it was the expansive library.

_At least I won't get bored._

Kisame sat in the kitchen hours after his drinks ran out, waiting for his meal to cook. Itachi had come in quickly to grab something to eat but left before they could talk. The man had always been silent, but as of recently he was a little more talkative.

_Must have something to do with Pinky, heh._

The shark man walked to the oven just in time for the woman he was thinking about to enter with her dog at her heels.

"Hey Kisame-san," she greeted, walking to the fridge and pulling out some leftovers, "Is this free game?"

"Yeah, unless someone writes their name on it it's free game, and it's just Kisame, Pinky, there isn't much need for formalities here," he replied and turned back to his food.

"You don't wanna cook something yourself?"

Sakura laughed, "I'm not the best chef in the world. Most of my meals consist of take-out or whatever the hospital cafeteria has."

"I'm shocked Pinky!"

"Why 'cause I'm a woman?" She deadpanned, a flat expression on her face.

Kisame scratched his head in embarrassment, "Well I figured all kunoichi had to learn how to cook, 'cause I doubt most of their teammates will do it."

"I know how to make something edible," she replied with another laugh, "I'm just not a top chef, and I'd rather avoid it if I can. One of my teammates, Sai, finds it to be an art form so he wanted to do all the cooking. And before that...well we had a lot of ramen."

The two laughed and made their dinners. Sakura heated up some chicken, rice and vegetables for her and Akihiko, serving him first before sitting down next to the giant blue man.

"So," he said after some time, "How you like Akatsuki? We're not all that bad. Except Hidan, he's an annoying fucker."

"Yeah, he is. I haven't really gotten to know Deidara but he seems alright, and Tobi means well."

"What about Itachi?" Kisame watched the woman's face scrunch up out of the corner of his eye and covered up a laugh by coughing.

"He's...not like his brother."

Kisame quirked an eyebrow, "What does that mean?"

"Well," Sakura chose her words carefully, "people say all Uchiha are emotionless bastards who don't talk or act without thinking."

"You don't think that's the case with him?"

"Not really. I mean it could have to do with the sheer amount of pain he's experiencing, the fear of losing his most powerful weapon, his eyesight, or the fact that I look for ways to piss him off," Kisame guffawed at that, "but I find him to be rather talkative and expressive. At least when he's angry anyways."

The woman went back to her dinner, unaware of the crazy look the tallest Akatsuki member was giving her.

"There's something wrong with you," he informed her.

"I've been told," was her dry reply.

Minutes passed in silence and Sakura grabbed the three empty dishes, heading for the sink. She washed them silently and Kisame played with Akihiko, who had taken a liking to the fish-like man.

Neither one of them reacted when the Uchiha they had been talking about earlier walked into the kitchen.

"Sakura-san," he addressed her.

"Yes?" She didn't turn around but responded. Not trusting herself to face him after their last encounter.

"I would like to start on my eyes as soon as possible."

"Yes, of course. Would tomorrow morning be a good time?"

She could tell he would have rather started right then and there so she continued, "I only ask that because I want to go over my notes from when I healed Kakashi's eyes. I'll have to do a lot of note taking for you but if I go over what I already know again I'll be better apt to do so."

"Hn." Was all he responded, before walking out and down the hall to where his bedroom was.

Kisame waited until he was out of ear shot before commenting, "You think _that_ was talkative?"

"No," the woman responded, "that wasn't. He's usually taunts me and annoys me a bunch too, but I doubt he wants to do that in front of one of his subordinates."

Kisame bristled at being called effectively a side-kick but knew it was true. "Then why does he not care in front of you? You're surly an underling as well."

"It may be true that he's leagues stronger than me, but I have something he needs that he can't do on his own. My medical expertise is pretty good and in that area I'm superior. It also helps that I'm not in the Akatsuki."

"Or maybe it's 'cause you have tits," Kisame mumbled, too low for Sakura to hear, but Akihiko barked at him.

"Shh, damn dog you'll get me in trouble."

It was late by the time Sakura washed up and got back to her room with Akihiko. The two of them took a shower together and she towel dried the fluffy dog before getting herself ready for bed.

"Tomorrow's gonna be an early morning, huh Aki-kun?" She asked him, curling her body around his much smaller one.

The puppy yipped and closed his blue eyes, feeling safe and secure with his mistress.

_Maybe after I get as much done as I can, we can train outside. _Sakura looked down at her nin-dog, _We haven't been able to get anything done together since we bound our chakra thanks to Uchiha. Hopefully some of that can get done tomorrow._

With those thoughts in her head, Sakura pulled out her medical notebook and began re-reading for the millionth time, her notes on Kakashi's eyes. Hoping that maybe she could speed up the process or something to that effect. His eyesight would most likely be savable, she wasn't worried about that, however the pain and panic it caused him as every day passed did worry her.

According to Kisame, he wasn't usually so expressive, and after thinking about it Sakura came to the conclusion that a whole file on someone couldn't be wrong. Obviously the pain was getting to him, causing him to lash out and lose the tight control he's always said to have had.

Knowing it could be problematic in more ways than one, Sakura resolved to get him healed as quickly as possible, so he could return to the normal Uchiha Itachi. The one that wasn't quick to anger and act on it, the one that didn't see her as a sexual being. He probably suffered from Nightingale syndrome. He knew she was able to heal him and was feeling something he never would before because of it. Though the woman hadn't heard of that happening before the actual healing had taken place, it was still possible she supposed.

Either way, the sooner it was done with the better, because Madara was out there somewhere and Itachi without his eyes, though still far greater than the average ninja, would be no match for him.

**A/N: I'm really happy with my updating speed on this one :) I hope you guys still read this and like it! I sort of needed a filler chapter here so not too much is going on, but we learn why Itachi is acting out of character. I mean, its gotta be hard to have such control when you feel such intense pain and fear all day. You know I love to hear feedback so R&R if you will!**

**PS I'm already done with the next chapter! I want to wait a few days to upload it so I can perfect it as well as give you a little time to simmer ;3 Love you!**

**Immer,**

**Vera**

"Without pain, there would be no suffering, without suffering we would never learn from out mistakes. To make it right, pain and suffering is the key to all windows, without it, there is no way of life."

-Angelina Jolie


	8. Soothing

**Since the dawn of time the Uchiha have put friends and enemies alike under a spell with their Sharingan. But what happens when a certain medic unknowingly puts the Uchiha prodigy under a spell with her own mesmerizing eyes? "I will have her," he said possessively, "She's mine."**

**ItachixSakura**

**Rated M**

**A/N: We're finally getting to some actual healing! This is just the beginning but all in good time my faithful readers! I'd really like to thank all of you for the love and dedication you've been sending my way. I've gotten so many new story and author followers and they reallllly make my day :) What's even more is the reviews! Some of them are short and others are very long and I love each and every one of them. They're really the reason that I write so thank you all very much it means the world to me. **

**To some of my reviewers: I did mess up having Kisame's moves be "Katon" instead of "Stuiton" (that's for pointing that out, Guest) and that's my bad. I think I just typed the one I knew best and went with it, I'll try to fix that next time. **

**Anywho, I hope you enjoy the newest chapter!**

**Cherry Weasel**

**Soothing**

The next day opened on a bustling Sakura in complete doctor mode. She had fallen asleep around one or two in the morning and by seven had woken up, showered and dressed, ready to start her day.

"I'll bring you some food and water," she promised her sleeping nin-dog and closed the door to her room, keeping him inside. As safe as he was with her, she wouldn't put it past Hidan to hurt or kill Akihiko just to piss her off.

The pink haired beauty walked to the kitchen and got herself a quick breakfast. After cleaning her dishes and putting them away she got the dog's meal ready and brought it to him. Sakura opened her door quietly and placed the sustenance where he would easily find it. Watching him sleep peacefully the closed the door with a soft click and turned around, only to run into the hard wall that was Uchiha Itachi's chest.

"Kami!" She cried out, pressing her hand to her chest, "You scared the shit outta me!"

"Hn." He replied emotionlessly, looking her over.

"Don't start with that right now Uchiha we have a long day ahead of us."

The man's brow furrowed and he grunted again, "Do not instigate me by addressing me that way."

"Oh please," Sakura chided, "I'm not instigating anything by calling you by your name." The woman brushed past him fearlessly and walked back to the kitchen. Itachi followed silently, taking in her appearance in a strictly observational way.

She still wore Konan's clothing and he made a mental note to get her some of her own, but she somehow made them look more professional. In too gray long pants, the hem rolled up to better suit her, and a loose black t-shirt it was comfortable but no-nonsense. Her long pink hair that usually cascaded down her back unhindered was tied up in a strict bun. A thick notebook in one hand and a pair of pencils in the other completed the look.

"Where do you want to begin?" She asked once they were both in the kitchen, interrupting his musings. She didn't wait for him to reply and instead grabbed two glasses, filling them with water. Itachi lifted a brow and nodded toward her hands in question.

"My chakra probing in your head might eventually give you a headache," she explained and he tilted his head ever so slightly at the other glass of water.

"I like water," she said dryly and motioned for him to move, "any other pressing questions you wanna ask or would you like to get started?"

"Hn."

Sakura followed the man as he walked out of the kitchen and towards his room. _He must be nervous, _Sakura thought to herself_, of course he won't admit it but this is the moment he's been waiting for, for Kami knows how long. _

* * *

><p>As Sakura thought these things to herself, similar ideas were running through Itachi's own head. He admitted to himself openly that he was apprehensive now that the moment was finally here. He had even tried to stall her by asking useless and unnecessary questions about the water she had gotten the two of them.<p>

As ready as he was to finally move on and have his eyes healed, there was always a possibility that his eyes were unfixable and that terrified him. Sure, the medic was good, the best in the land even, but sometimes some things couldn't be fixed. Asking her questions would seem weak, and Uchiha Itachi was weak in front of nobody, so he kept his thoughts to himself.

_But if she is unable to restore my vision..._

The man didn't allow himself to finish that sentence. Without his vision he wouldn't be able to defeat Madara. He wouldn't be able to lead Akatsuki. He couldn't fight and win the way he had been trained to. He would have no job and no reason to live. He wouldn't be able to see what Sakura really looked like.

That last thought gave him pause and he shook his head to the side, clearing away such ideas. The only solace he took was in the fact that the thought of her face in perfect clarity was after his thoughts of his job and ability. She may be effecting him in a weird way but his life as a ninja would always come first.

Sakura was merely a distraction, part of his small revenge against the village he hated, and loved. The village that built him, destroyed him and held all meaning behind what he did; his every move.

Bowing his head slightly at the impending headache he felt run across his temple, Itachi gracefully moved ahead of the smaller woman and walked to the door concealing his room. The tall man opened the door with one hand and held it there, giving Sakura the right of way into his domain.

* * *

><p>She scrutinized the man before her before cautiously walking in, taking in her surroundings. The room was almost as empty as her own, save for a few bookshelves packed full of books and scrolls. Kunai littered the floor and desk, some in the process of being polished and buffed while others looked perfectly new. The bed was unmade, not messy but unmade nonetheless, and a few days worth of clothes were on the ground.<p>

"This isn't what I thought it would be," Sakura commented idly.

Itachi's deep voice rumbled, "You've imagined my room before Sakura-san?"

A light blush coated her face and she puffed out a small amount of air in annoyance, "No. But I did expect something more," she trailed off, looking around, "orderly."

"It's been hard to concentrate on things of small magnitude in my current state." Itachi responded gruffly, looking anywhere but in her direction. That's when it hit her,

_He can't see well enough to know where things are to clean them up. He's stopped trying..._

"Well lets remedy that as soon as possible then, ne?" Sakura motioned toward the bed and completely fell into her roll of doctor. With a no-nonsense air about her, Sakura pulled a chair from his desk and brought it to the side of the bed. By then Itachi had already laid down and crossed his arms behind his head, silently watching the woman.

"I'm going to need for you to put your arms at your side or on your stomach Uchiha-san." Itachi noticed the addition of the honorific but didn't mention it, Sakura outside of being a med-nin was obviously entirely different person.

The red-eyed man complied and stayed ramrod straight, still as can be. Sakura took a few notes on how his eyes looked with the ever-present Sharingan on. Putting a pen to his nose and away from it, moving her fingers side to side and flashing a little light in them. The overall process took less than ten minutes but she got quite a few good notes.

"Alright now if you can release the Sharingan, I'm doing to do the same thing with your normal eyes."

Itachi released his eye technique to the silent amazement of Sakura. Her face was set still and professional but her eyes held the medical wonderment that only a doctor of her caliber could possibly possess.

Itachi smirked the tiniest bit as his eyes turned to his birth colour. Sakura continued the tests and noticed a significant difference in how he reacted. His eyes squinted worse when her finger went further away and didn't react at all when she motioned outside his peripherals.

When she held a light to his eyes, the pupils didn't react the way they were suppose to if they did at all. His body had a stressful edge to it and she could tell he was in immense pain as he tried even harder than usual to concentrate on her tests.

The rosette felt bad for him as she continued to take notes. His case made Kakashi's look like child's play and she knew it was going to take some time to heal. She would have to heal his actual eyes themselves first, before the nerves. Between his eyes and the nerves attaching them was a jumble of burned, short circuited and all around destroyed nerves, fibers, muscles and chakra lines.

If she healed the backs of his nerves first they would be straining themselves "searching" for his eyes and re-damage themselves. If she healed the nerves, fibers, muscles and chakra lines in the middle between the two first then having a problem connecting the parts later would increase.

She had to heal his actual eyes first, though that wouldn't effect his sight, and work her way inside. Once the eyes were healed then she could work on detangling, reattaching, soothing and all around healing the inside connectors. When all of that was finally done she could heal the nerves that would attach his eye connections to the ocipular lobe of his brain and fix the chakra nerves and she would be done.

It sounded much easier than it would be. Healing his eyes would take at least three sessions alone, if she pushed herself. Then it would take a session each for the nerves, fibers, muscles and chakra lines. Two more sessions for the connections to his ocipular lobes and a final session to put it all together and give him his sight back. She was looking at a grand total of ten sessions. Each session was going to take roughly all of her chakra, so at the absolute least it was going to take ten days to complete everything.

However, since she had more than ten days to work, Sakura wanted to aim for twenty five. It would be a little less than a session every other day, but that way she could go over her work meticulously and make sure it was perfect. Given the man she was working on, and how necessary he was to her Hokage and their village, she knew the extra time would be worth while.

She explained this to Itachi and he seemed receptive to the thought. He didn't like the idea of being close to blind for another month but knowing that she would be healing him and making it better the whole time soothed his worries.

The two of them sat in silence for a while longer, Sakura asking him to switch back and forth between his normal eyes and the Sharingan eyes. He complied without complaint even though it caused him pain. Itachi took little sips of the water she had provided when his usual headache got worse between switchings.

Twenty pages of notes written in her ineligible handwriting later, Sakura sat back in her seat and sighed, taking a sip of her own water, "I think that's all the notes I can get for today. You did much better than Kakashi, his notes took two days. He doesn't like anything to do with doctors, it's a wonder he even came to me for help."

Itachi nodded in response, knowing the feeling but as usual he followed through with what he started.

"You were very quick about it," he commended her, and Sakura glowed in response. It wasn't often someone complimented her after her procedures caused them pain, and she knew he was in a decent amount of pain.

She looked at the clock on the wall and noted it was ten in the morning, before looking back at the man in front of her who was trying to get up.

"Hey, I didn't say you were done," she said and gently but firmly pushed him back down on the bed, "I'm done with notes, there's still more to do."

* * *

><p>Itachi sighed, he would handle the pain like a man but it was tiring him out. He closed his eyes and prepared himself the way he was situated before when he heard her feminine voice,<p>

"You can get comfortable now, Uchiha-san, this is just for you."

A perverse thought ran across his mind without his permission and images flashed before achy eyes. Sakura crawling on top of him, Sakura in a naughty nurses outfit, Sakura kissing his chest and moving lower, lower...Itachi let out a slight groan before,

"Uchiha-san?"

Her voice brought him out of his musings and he opened his once shut eyes, images of her leaving him. He could make out her green eyes wrinkled in slight worry at hearing his pained voice. She held her hands right above his temples, poised to touch him but was evidentially stopped by the sound from low in his throat.

"Are you okay?" She asked, clearly not recognizing the sound for what it was. Itachi nodded gruffly, embarrassed that he let his thoughts get the best of him. That great Uchiha Itachi apparently didn't have as much of a firm control over himself as he was said to have. The only solace he took was in knowing that she hadn't understood it was a groan of desire at the images in his head, and not due to the pain he was feeling behind his eyes. Though now that he was thinking about it, that pain was getting rather intense.

"Alrighty then," her bell-like voice lulled his eyes closed once more and he felt her encroaching on his head with her small dainty hands, "This is going to help make you feel better Uchiha-san."

He didn't have time to question her, for all at once he felt her fingers put a slight pressure on his temples and her soothing green chakra began to envelope his head. The relief was cool, soft and instantaneous. He felt her chakra invade his body but didn't try to fight it off for a second. His own chakra pathways could detect the healing aspect and didn't resist in the least.

She sent her mint green essence through his head and massaged him from the inside out. The ever-present headache went away with the thready pulses of her chakra and the burning sensation was diminished to a dull roar. As she worked on the inner workings of his head, he could feel her tiny fingers massage his temples as well, diminishing the stress that stored in his muscles as well.

Itachi let out a sigh, feeling his entire body just completely relax into his bed, actually able to lay in comfort for the first time in almost a decade. He could feel the woman above him smile, her body humming with contentment at her healing. Sakura was very much the type of woman that lived off of helping other people. By him letting his guard down and letting her see him in such a vulnerable state, he gave her the greatest gift a patient could.

Her dainty fingers danced from his temples to the sides and middle of his forehead, massaging the chakra pathways there as well. She did so for quite some time in silence, only being interrupted by the occasional sigh from the man on the bed. Years of well trained healing chakra flooded his system from different parts of him as she moved her hands from his forehead to the back of his neck and head. Sakura got the base of his neck and traced the connections from his eyes to his ocipular lobe expertly.

She didn't know how long she had been doing so before she noticed that the Uchiha before her was fast asleep. Sakura wondered how long it had been since the infamous Uchiha Itachi had ever willingly fallen asleep in front of someone, a fellow shinobi at that. His closed eyes and relaxed face almost looked innocent, had they not been the face of such a handsome man.

No, innocent wasn't the right word, it was more of care-free. Untroubled. The man before her had spent his life so far constantly stressed out about something. Always on a mission, whether it be an actual mission or a self-proclaimed one. Ever since he was a child, training to take over as Head of the Family, Itachi had been under an enormous amount of stress.

Here, now, on the bed in front of her in the Akatsuki main base he slept soundly. One of the most dangerous, most powerful men in the world and he was put under by only the fingers on her hands and the chakra in her body.

Sakura smiled to herself before quietly getting up and putting the chair back. She contemplated cleaning up a bit but was unsure if he would take it as an insult to his inhibility to. Instead she just picked up the kunai on the floor, least he step on one and stab himself, and put them on his desk with the rest. It was hard to imagine the great Itachi doing something as clumsy as stepping on a kunai but when a seasoned ninja lost his vision, many things could happen.

Sakura moved back to the man she had started to save and smiled again. She was following through on her mission given to her by Tsunade, but felt like she was doing even more. She was restoring what the village took from him and giving him a second chance as well. The ethereal pinkette cautiously walked closer to him as not to wake him from his slumber and gently placed her hand on his.

It was the first time she initiated contact with him, aside from their battles, and she was surprised to find his hand so warm and soft. Wrapping her elf-like fingers around his in a gentle way she marveled at how much bigger his hands were. Hands that had killed thousands, but protected people he loved as well, even if they didn't know it.

Sakura released his hand and left the room, shutting his door quietly pondering to herself. How would Sasuke react, if he found out the truth about his aniki? Would he stop the self-declared rampage he had set himself on? Sakura thought back to the Jounin and his team that she had to save after their attack by the sound nin. She wasn't sure if he would stop, even if he knew the truth. If anything, he would really turn his sights on Konoha, instead of just instigating them for the sake of drawing Naruto or herself out to battle him.

There was still some human part inside of him, she could tell by the way he tried to get them to battle him. Aside from training in medicine, Sakura had also dabbled in psychology, a necessary element to know about when dealing with physically or emotionally damaged ninja. Sasuke wanted to know they still cared, that he still had people that loved him, even if he himself wasn't aware that he need to know that. By drawing herself and Naruto, his souls brother, into a fight, one where they would inevitably try and force him home, he was reinforcing the fact that someone, somewhere, still cared about him.

It was tragic.

A part of her still cared for her teammate, not in the way she once did, but as a close friend. He had been a part of her Genin team and nothing would take that away from her, Naruto or even Kakashi. But this new Sasuke she wanted nothing to do with. After killing Orochimaru and Kabuto he had become a ruthless leader. His country thrived under his rule, but not for the greater good. They had a huge army and made plenty of money through mass production and missions, but underneath all that there was nothing.

No families, no honor, no pride in the villages or country. There were just ninja academies to produce more killing machines; and Sasuke reveled in every minute of it. By not having a chance to settle down and raise families and grow attached to the people around them, his subjects were unable to experience the loss that he had to face as a young child. In his warped mind, he was doing a favour to his people, by eliminating any weakness and pain that could come out of family, friendship and love he was creating the perfect warrior.

But there was one flaw in his plan that he had yet to come across. If there was no family, no friends, no love, loyalty or honor then what would they fight for? Who would they fight for? Eventually, the men and women in his army would catch on to the fact that the only reason they fought was for the man who wielded the power. And at that moment, Otogakure would fall; and Sasuke, their Otokage, would fall with it.

* * *

><p>It would be hours before Itachi woke up from his deep slumber; he hadn't slept that well in years. The man opened his eyes slowly, getting readjusted to the land of the living. He hadn't dreamt but that was better than the nightmares he was plagued with so often, and it made for a more smooth sleep. The man got up and swung his legs around the side of the bed, glancing at the clock. He remembered it being around ten when she was done taking notes and began her soothing assault on his senses, and now it was almost six. He had slept for eight hours.<p>

The Uchiha man put his head in his hands, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and setting his hair in the pony tail again. The headache he always awoke and fell asleep with was just a mere throbbing, leagues better than even the best day in the last years.

The pain was much worse than when she started, as the woman had almost gotten rid of it entirely, but it was bearable. Itachi got up from bed and walked toward his dresser, bent on changing his shirt. A new article of clothing after waking up seemed to help almost as much as coffee, for some reason. The sleep just didn't cling to him as much. On his way there, passing his desk he realized that all his discarded kunai were placed on his desk. A moment of annoyance passed through his before he saw that the rest of his room was in the same disarray as before. She had seen and understood how he would feel about her cleaning up and compromised by at least making sure nothing dangerous was laying around. A very political move, probably inherited from all of her time spent with Tsunade.

"Sakura..." he liked the way her name tasted on his mouth without the honorific "san" tacked on to the end and he wondered how she would feel if he addressed her without it.

* * *

><p>Sakura lay on the Akatsuki training grounds next to Akihiko panting. The two of them had grabbed a quick lunch after she left Itachi and had been training together ever since. The two hadn't been able to really get to know one another in that sense until now and it was long overdue.<p>

Sparring against someone who was bound through chakra to you was much more difficult than she thought. Each one of them was able to get a sense of what the other was going to do, very useful when fighting together but incredibly hard when fighting against each other. If anything though, that would just push them both to their limits and help make both master and nin-dog better shinobi.

Today the two of them only fought using taijutsu, to test Akihiko's limits as he was still quite young. The nin-dog was able to keep up with her surprisingly well. Of course, Sakura went easy on him since he was only a couple of months old and she was on par with one of the three legendary Sannin.

"You did really good Aki-kun," Sakura smiled as she spoke and turned onto her stomach to give her partner a belly rub. The dog ruffed in response and wagged his tail with the energy that only a puppy could summon at this point.

"We'll have to continue to train in taijutsu and then move up from there, does that sound good?" The puppy yipped and she went on, "Once we've gotten better at that together we'll work on throwing weapons in there. I should have asked Kiba about that when I had the chance," the woman mused to herself.

"We'll figure a way for you to use weapons, even if it's only by deflecting my own onto the enemy. Then we can start putting sequences together!" Akihiko wagged his tail harder causing it to thump against the packed earth repeatedly.

Sakura continued to lay with her pup and stare at the clouds above her. The Akatsuki base was situated in a mountain but somehow the men had created a way for the training ground to be outside. There was a cut in the middle of the mountain, through stone all the way up to the top where it reached sky.

One may think it was a way out, but Sakura knew better. It was raining outside but none of it got in the training ground which lead her to believe that the barrier that surrounded the entire base covered the top of the training ground as well. Not that she was looking for a way out anymore. No, the petit woman was in this for the long haul now. She had invested her time and chakra into the martyr that needed her help and she would die before she quit on him.

And it wasn't that bad here anyway. Kisame was fun to talk and drink with, Tobi was a nice comic relief, Hidan, though infuriating, was an interesting fight and Itachi was...well, Itachi was Itachi. He made her angry with his cockiness, sad with his true story, happy when he subtly praised her, and unfortunately one of the other big feelings he made her feel was horny.

Sakura groaned and hit her head on the dirt, but there was no use trying to hid it from herself. As soon as she stopped seeing him as the Uchiha clan's killer and the murderer that people made him out to be, she started seeing him as a man. And, oh, what a man he was.

Sakura felt heat pool in her belly at her thoughts and unconsciously pressed her supple thighs together. It had been a while since she had been with a man, and Neji's loving had left her so satisfied, now that it was gone it was hard to concentrate around the man that promised all that and more.

As good as Neji was, and based on the bruises, bite marks and broken furniture that littered her house after a good nice, he was good; Itachi, she could tell, would be something out of this world. The way he gave her butterflies when he stared into her eyes, the way he infuriated her with his words only to press her against the wall and whisper into her ear.

Sakura felt herself shiver and pressed her legs together even more. Being around the man was hard enough but when he came onto her, when he marked her, claimed her and growled into her ear possessively that _she was his_ put her over the edge.

"Mmmph," she groaned and slid her lithe hand down her slick body to her leg, seconds away from running to her room to solve the problem she had created for herself when the door to the training ground opened up.

Startled, the pinkette jumped up and turned to see who was coming in, and who should it be but the object of her current desires?

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><p>Itachi walked into the training ground and processed the sight in front of him. Sakura lay on the ground, her exposed flesh completely covered in dirt. Her black shirt and gray slacks were torn up in many places, some looked like they had chunks taken out of them, presumedly by the panting dog laying beside her. They were both breathing heavy and her hair was in a disheveled mess around her toned body.<p>

As soon as he entered the training ground she whipped up as if caught in a private act, staring at him owlishly with those big eyes of hers. Itachi once again wished that he could see her in clarity, but at the same time was thanking Kami that he couldn't.

As imperfectly as he could see her now and he still felt his hand clinch to stay in control of his body. Her ample chest was still heaving, whether from exhaustion or something else, Itachi could only speculate, and hope.

"Sakura-san," he addressed her, breaking the extended silence between the two.

She swallowed before sitting upright in a more relaxed manor, "Uchiha, I was just thinking about you." As soon as the words left her mouth she pinkened and looked anywhere but in his eyes. Itachi raised a gentle brow but the expression was lost on the female who had a sudden Nara-like interest in the clouds.

Itachi ignored her comment, "I made dinner."

Sakura blanched and turned back to address him, "You did?" Her green eyes were wide once again, "You mean, for me?" She pointed to herself, which unknown to her provided to be a very tempting gesture to the man.

"I was hungry too," he said, but they both knew he meant _yes, but I won't say it._

"Well dinner sounds great, thank you," her smile sent a weird flutter throughout his body and he looked away.

"Hn."

The woman got up and brushed the loose dirt off of herself before gathering Akihiko in her weak arms and following the dark man out of the training ground. They both entered the kitchen and came across a nice spread of food. Apparently Itachi had some pretty good cooking skills. The medic turned to her taller companion and gave him a look.

"You learn how to cook when you're on your own," he answered her stare and the two of them sat down together.

There was rice, and miso and shrimp stir fry; it was relatively simple, but easily the most put together mean she'd had in a while. The pair sipped tea and and ate in silence. Neither one of them having anything they wanted to say and both enjoying the silence. Sakura ate her meal at a languid pace, feeling Akihiko at the same time, not having much energy to eat any faster. Itachi ate and watched the med-nin across the table from him. She was still filthy but it suited her well. Dirt was all over her body and that particular outfit was ruined. Not that she probably cared much, since it wasn't hers to begin with.

When the three of them were done eating Akihiko jumped down from the chair and padded off toward the room to sleep, leaving his mistress with the Uchiha man. The two of them made eye contact before breaking it off and gathering their dishes. Itachi put the left overs in a container while Sakura washed the dishes, leaving them on a rack to dry for the night.

It was surprisingly domestic the way the two worked together. There were no need for words and yet it wasn't uncomfortable, one just did what the other wasn't doing. When they were finally cleaned up Sakura looked toward the doorway with longing, knowing that a hot shower and her bed were calling for her.

Itachi knew she was itching to leave but didn't have any parting words for her just yet. He walked up to the medic and he could feel her stiffen marginally at his approach, it seemed the she wasn't quite comfortable with him yet.

* * *

><p>Sakura knew he was walking up to her and her body went on the defensive automatically. It wasn't that she feared him, no she knew she was safe right now, but her thoughts strayed to what she was thinking before he interrupted her earlier and she tried to control herself.<p>

They both knew that him making dinner had been his way of saying thank you, though he wouldn't say it out loud. But now that the formalities were out of the way she didn't know how to exit.

"T-thank you for dinner, Uchiha," she said politely, her nerves betraying her in the way she spoke.

"You're quite welcome," his velvet voice caressed her soft skin as he stood right in front of her, almost toe to toe.

"I guess I better..." her voice trailed off when she saw his hand rise and descend onto her head. She felt his long, masculine fingers travel through her hair and had to stop herself from leaning into it.

The woman opened her mouth to ask what he was doing when he pulled back, a leaf in his hands.

"Hn."

"Oh, thank you." She said, taking the leaf and brushing her fingers against his purposefully. She didn't need to take the leaf, he was more than capable of doing away with it, but she felt the need to touch him in some way, and so she had.

The man and woman stared at one another for a little while longer, their breaths mingling in the air and their bodies on alert as if jolted by electricity.

Finally, Sakura broke the tense silence, "Goodnight, Uchiha," she said and started walking away.

"Goodnight Sakura," he responded to her back, his voice following her, drifting down the halls with her.

And neither one of them mentioned that he had just called her by her name, and nothing else.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So wow right! We learned a lot this chapter! Sorry it was a little shorter than usual (I aim for 6,000 words a/o 12 pages per chapter and I only got 10 pages though I did hit 6,000 words) but I didn't want to overwhelm you guys. First and foremost was how Sakura plans to heal Itachi's eyes but even bigger is that **_**Sasuke is the Otokage!**_** I hope you guys all caught onto that, I tried to make it sort of subtle, as it isn't a revelation to Sakura since she already knew, but I hope you were still able to catch it. If you guys have any questions about the medical procedure or about Sasuke becoming Otokage just PM me. If enough people PM me I'll put a further explanation at the top of the next chapter. I hope I explained it all well enough but sometimes what makes sense in my head doesn't in others.**

**Well, that's it for this chapter! It's the third in a week, I hope I'm making up for my months of absence. Please, please, please review for me! They really make me so happy :)**

**Yours,**

**Vera**

"I'm as gay as a daffodil, my dear!"

-Freddie Mercury


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